08/06/2026

You Asked... We Answered

You Asked: Why did my Quality Measure star rating change even though my Quality Measure points stayed the same?

We Answered: CMS adjusts the Quality Measure (QM) star rating thresholds every six months to account for national improvement in quality performance. Effective with the July 2026 Five-Star refresh, the QM point thresholds increased, meaning some facilities may receive a lower QM star rating even though their QM points did not change (QSO-19-08-NH).

For the July 2026 refresh, CMS calculated the average national improvement in QM scores from January 2025 through April 2026 and increased each QM rating threshold by 50% of that average improvement. As a result, a QM score that previously qualified for a higher star rating may now fall into a lower rating category. For example, an overall QM score of 1,456 points, which previously earned 5 stars, now earns 4 stars.

CMS implemented this methodology to encourage continuous quality improvement and make smaller, more gradual threshold adjustments over time rather than infrequent, larger changes.