CVS Health Sues CMS Over $2 Billion in Medicare Advantage Payments

CVS Health filed a federal lawsuit on October 26, 2026, against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on behalf of its Aetna subsidiary. The company claims it is owed more than $2 billion in bonus payments under the Medicare Advantage star ratings system. The lawsuit argues that CMS used rating measures it had not properly adopted and applied them inconsistently, resulting in legally invalid star ratings.

The case directly challenges the methodology used by CMS to rate Medicare Advantage plans, which are rated on a one-to-five star scale. The dispute involves billions of dollars in federal payments across the industry, following a similar ruling against Clover Health earlier this year.