5 stars for 11 years: Kaiser Permanente Medicare programs

Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare health plan in California received a 5 out of 5-star rating – making it among the highest rated in the nation – for providing expert medicine, seamless care, and outstanding service to its Medicare health plan members, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) annual Star Quality Ratings for 2022.

This is the 11th straight year Kaiser Permanente’s Medicare health plan in California has been rated 5 out of 5 stars.

“Kaiser Permanente is proud to consistently be recognized for the high-quality care and service our excellent physicians, nurses, and front-line staff provide to our Medicare health plan members,” said Carrie Owen Plietz, FACHE, president of Kaiser Permanente’s Northern California region. “This outstanding rating represents the highest level of quality and attention to the individual needs our Medicare health plan members – and all of our members – receive. ”

The Medicare health plans in every other Kaiser Permanente region in the U.S. also received the highest rating of 5 stars from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for 2022. Kaiser Permanente serves 1.8 million Medicare members (out of 12.5 million members total) in California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, the mid-Atlantic states (Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.), the Northwest (Oregon and Southwest Washington), and Washington state.

“These ratings are a testament to the excellence of our physicians and care teams, who are relentless in their commitment to providing extraordinary service and care to our patients,” said Richard S. Isaacs, MD, FACS, CEO and executive director of The Permanente Medical Group. “Our Medicare health plan members deserve the highest-quality care, and these ratings demonstrate that our clinical excellence and coordinated care experience are helping them to lead healthy and productive lives.”

Every year, CMS rates all Medicare Advantage health plans (Parts C and D) on multiple facets of care and service, including chronic conditions management, health maintenance, patient experience, customer service, and pharmacy services. Kaiser Permanente’s excellent plan ratings demonstrate the value of our integrated health care delivery system, which brings a myriad of services together, in many cases all under one roof, and puts our patients at the center of care.

Enrolling in a Kaiser Permanente Medicare Health Plan

Medicare-eligible individuals can enroll in individual Medicare Advantage and Part D plans during the Medicare open enrollment period, which begins on October 15 and runs through December 7, 2021. Medicare-eligible individuals who have a 5-star Medicare health plan available in their area, such as Kaiser Permanente, can also take advantage of a special enrollment period that runs from December 8, 2021, through November 30, 2022. During that time, they can join or switch to a plan with a 5-star quality rating (one plan change allowed per special enrollment period).

Medicare beneficiaries can learn more about Kaiser Permanente’s highly rated Medicare health plans and historical star ratings by visiting kp.org/medicarestars.