It's not as user-friendly as Consumer Reports, but the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' overall star rating system represents progress in getting data into the hands of health care consumers. And despite some methodological shortcomings, it puts providers on their toes, which is a good thing.
Critics have blasted CMS for trying to boil down a broad range of nuanced measures into what many believe is an oversimplified rating. While this criticism and others have merit, it's important to recognize that the ratings will evolve over time, and still have value even if they're far from perfect.
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