Medicare beneficiaries have experienced a decline in incident heart failure (HF) and a decrease in 1-year HF mortality in recent years; however, the overall burden of HF continues to increase. This according to a study that included a cohort of 2,331,939 unique fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries (mean age 72 years, 57% women, 86% white, 8% black) followed for all inpatient and outpatient encounters over a 10-year period from 2004 to 2013. Within the cohort, 518,223 patients had preexisting HF, and 349,829 had a new diagnosis of HF during the study period. Further details include:

• The rates of incident HF declined 32%, from 38.7 per 1,000 in 2004 to 26.2 per 1,000 beneficiaries in 2013.
• In contrast, prevalent HF increased during the study period from 162 per 1,000 in 2004 to 172 per 1,000 beneficiaries in 2013.
• Overall 1-year mortality among patients with incident HF was elevated at 24.7%, with a 0.4% absolute decline annually, and a more pronounced decrease among those diagnosed in an inpatient vs outpatient setting.