What is the recommended practice when describing a plan's star ratings to a beneficiary who has both overall and subratings?

• A. Report both the overall rating and the relevant subratings (such as customer service and care coordination).
• B. Report only the overall rating.
• C. Report only the subrating with the higher value.
• D. Avoid mentioning star ratings.

Answer: (A)

Presenting both the overall rating and the relevant subratings provides a complete picture of plan quality. The overall star rating gives a general sense of performance across all areas, but the subratings break that down into specific domains, such as customer service and care coordination. By sharing both, the beneficiary can see not only how the plan fares overall but also how it performs in areas that matter most to them. This supports informed decisions and helps identify strengths to rely on or weaknesses to watch for.

Reporting only the overall rating can obscure important domain-level performance, while focusing only on a single subrating could mislead by not showing the overall context. Avoiding star ratings altogether deprives the beneficiary of a standardized quality signal.