New Report from Heart Failure Society of America: Heart Failure Deaths Are Climbing Nationwide, Despite More Therapies
October 13, 2026
Innovations in Cardiovascular Medicine & Surgery | October 2026
Eiran Gorodeski, MD, MPHAccording to a new report from the Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA), heart failure is claiming more American lives than at any point in recent history, and the disease is increasingly affecting younger, middle-aged adults.
Eiran Gorodeski, MD, MPH, Director of the Advanced Heart Failure & Transplant Center at University Hospitals Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, chaired the HFSA’s Stats Committee and was lead author on the report, published in the Journal of Cardiac Failure.
The report finds heart failure contributed to 452,573 deaths in the United States in 2023, or 14.6% of all deaths nationwide. Age-adjusted heart failure deaths rose about 37% between 2010 and 2023, reversing more than a decade of progress. And heart failure is now more common in younger adults. From 2001 to 2020, heart failure death rates jumped 121% among adults ages 25 to 44 and 96% among those ages 45 to 64.
The report discusses racial and ethnic disparities in both heart failure mortality and hospitalizations, as well as geographic and rural-urban influences on heart failure burden. Also reviewed are available therapies and outcomes. Guideline-directed medical therapies (GDMT) have shown a clear benefit to patients with heart failure. However, of the more than 3 million patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), only 18% are receiving the full quadruple GDMT.
In addition to epidemiologic findings, the 2026 update includes sections on heart failure in cancer survivors, heart failure in pregnancy and the postpartum period, cardiomyopathies, end-of-life care in heart failure, and more.