ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) has recognized 10 Medicare plan contracts with a PQA Laura Cranston Excellence in Quality or Quality Improvement Award for high achievement or significant improvement in PQA measures of medication safety and appropriate use.
The awards are based on the published CMS 2026 Medicare Part D Star Ratings. This is the PQA awards’ 16th year and only 1.6% of the 613 eligible Medicare Part D plan contracts qualified for an award.
The Excellence in Quality Award recognizes Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug Plans (MAPD) and Medicare Prescription Drug Plans (PDP). MAPDs are recognized for achieving at least a 4.5-star Part D summary rating and a 5-star rating on all five PQA measures used in the 2026 Medicare Part D Star Ratings program. PDPs are recognized for achieving at least a 4.5-star Part D summary rating and at least a 4-star rating on all five PQA measures used in the 2026 Medicare Part D Star Ratings program.
The Quality Improvement Award recognizes MAPDs and PDPs that received a 5-star rating on the 2026 Medicare Part D Quality Improvement measure and the greatest combined improvement in star ratings from 2025 to 2026 on the five PQA measures used in the program during this period.
“Ensuring high-quality medication use and access remains a priority for health plans, care providers and the Medicare Part D program,” PQA Chief Executive Officer Micah Cost, PharmD, MS, CAE, said. “PQA is celebrating its 20th anniversary and is proud to recognize this year’s awardees for their demonstrated commitment to excellence in providing exceptional care for their Medicare members.”
This year’s quality awards recipients, presented to the plan’s parent organization, are:
Excellence in Quality Award – MAPDs (CMS Contract Number and Name)
•Alignment Healthcare USA, LLC (H9686 – Alignment Health Plan)
•LMC Family Holdings, LLC (H4286 – Leon Health, Inc.)
•Longevity Health Founders, LCC (H5374 – Longevity Health Plan)
•Longevity Health Founders, LLC (H9590 – Longevity Health)
Excellence in Quality Award – PDPs (CMS Contract Number and Name)
•Capital Blue Cross (S8067 – Avalon Insurance Company)
•HealthPartners, Inc. (S1822 – HealthPartners)
•Independent Health Association, Inc. (S4501 – Pharmacy Benefit Dimensions PDP)
•Lifetime Healthcare, Inc. (S3521 – Excellus Health Plan, Inc.)
Quality Improvement Award – MAPDs (CMS Contract Number and Name)
•Longevity Health Founders, LLC (H1644 – Longevity Health Plan)
Quality Improvement Award – PDPs (CMS Contract Number and Name)
•Horizon Mutual Holdings, Inc. (S5993 – Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey)
Five PQA-endorsed quality measures are used in the 2026 Medicare Part D Star Ratings program, and several others are used as Display measures. Details on these measures are available at pqaalliance.org/medicare-part-d. CMS evaluates Medicare plans based on a 5-star rating system. Star Ratings are calculated each year and may change from one year to the next. More information about Star Ratings can be found at CMS.gov.
The awards were named in Cranston’s honor in 2020 in recognition of her 15 years of service as PQA’s founding CEO and contribution to medication quality. The recipients will be celebrated at the 2026 PQA Annual Meeting on May 13 in Baltimore, Md.
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