June 13 (Reuters) - The federal government plans to redo

this year's quality ratings of private Medicare plans, the Wall

Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with

the matter.

The move could deliver hundreds of millions in additional

bonus payments to insurers next year, benefiting Medicare

insurers at a time when their business is under pressure from

rising healthcare costs and lower-than-expected rates for next

year, according to the report.

A decision by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

could be announced as soon as Thursday, the report added.

The ratings for a year determine bonus payments to the

insurers in the following year.

Two court rulings have faulted the agency's ratings in cases

filed by insurers SCAN Health Plan and Elevance Health ( ELV ),

the report said. SCAN, a nonprofit, and Elevance, one of the

biggest Medicare insurers, won their challenges of CMS' ratings

calculations last week, it added.

CMS did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for

comment.