Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi Earns 5 Star Ranking for Medicare Health Plan

For the fifth straight year, Kaiser Permanente Hawaiʻi has received 5 out of 5 stars from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for its 2022 Medicare health plan.

Kaiser Permanente is the only Medicare health plan in Hawaiʻi and one of just 21 in the nation to receive 5 out of 5 stars this year from CMS, a federal agency and division of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The Medicare Star Quality Ratings for 2022 are based on plans’ performance in measures related to staying healthy, managing chronic conditions, patient experience, customer service, and pharmacy services. Once a year, CMS assigns a rating to individual Medicare health plans ranging from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) Stars to provide beneficiaries with a way to compare Medicare health plans each year.

“It’s a privilege and honor to care for our kupuna members across the state,” said Karen Ching, MD, assistant area medical director, Quality and Safety, for Hawaii Permanente Medical Group. “Ultimately, these Medicare honors are a reflection of the commitment among our physicians, providers, nurses, and staff to ensure kupuna and their family members receive the high-quality care and service they deserve.”

Medicare health plans that earn 5 out of 5 stars can participate in a 5-star Special Enrollment Period and continue to enroll new individual Medicare members from Dec. 8 through Nov. 30 of the following year. Beneficiaries who want to change from their current Medicare plan to a 5-star plan may switch once per plan year during the 5-star Special Enrollment Period.

Data for the Medicare Star Quality Ratings is drawn from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, the Medicare Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Surveys, Health Outcomes Survey, and CMS administrative data from audits, complaints and “secret shopping.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, previous year’s performance scores for select measures were factored into the 2022 ratings.