The US Medicare agency dropped its appeal of a lawsuit brought by UnitedHealth Group Inc. challenging the program’s determination of quality ratings that drive Medicare payments.

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 privately administered Medicare health insurance plans,

CMS issued the industry-wide ratings the next month. Among large insurers, UnitedHealthcare experienced one of the most dramatic drops in scores. In its lawsuit, the UnitedHealth Group subsidiary alleged the decline improperly cost the company “tens of millions” in federal payments.