Jan 24 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Medicare and

Medicaid Services on Friday said it would not appeal a court

order that it recalculate the public star ratings it gave to

UnitedHealth's ( UNH ) privately administered Medicare health

insurance plans, which the insurer said would cost it millions

of dollars from lost customers.

The agency did not give a reason for withdrawing the notice

of appeal it had filed just three days earlier. It was not clear

whether the move was part of a broader policy change by

President Donald Trump's new administration.

CMS declined to comment, citing a pause on public

communications by health agencies ordered by the Trump

administration. UnitedHealth ( UNH ) did not immediately respond to a

request for comment.

The lawsuit concerns UnitedHealth's ( UNH ) Medicare Advantage

plans, which are privately administered health insurance plans

funded by the federal Medicare program for those age 65 and

older and some Americans with disabilities.

CMS assigns Medicare Advantage plans ratings of one to five

stars to help consumers choose among plans. UnitedHealth ( UNH ) said in

its lawsuit that some of its Medicare Advantage plans lost half

a star because of a single unsuccessful call placed by a CMS

test caller seeking a foreign language interpreter.

UnitedHealth ( UNH ) said that CMS was arbitrary and capricious in

docking the star ratings on the basis of a single call, and said

that an error by the test caller was responsible for failing to

connect with a representative.

A Texas federal judge in November agreed and ordered CMS to

recalculate the star rating.

Other insurers, including Elevance, Centene ( CNC )

and Humana, have also sued CMS over what they allege are

unfair star ratings.

CMS previously recalculated star ratings for Elevance and

non-profit SCAN Health Plans' Medicare Advantage plans after

losing court rulings.

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) shares were up about 0.6% at $532.86.