Heart Failure and the Affordable Care Act: Past, Present, and Future

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and other major health care legislative acts have had an important impact on the care of heart failure patients in the United States. The main effects of the ACA include regulation of the health insurance industry, expansion of access to health care, and health care delivery system reform, which included the creation of several alternative payment models. Particular components of the ACA, such as the elimination of annual and lifetime caps on spending, Medicaid expansion, and the individual and employer mandate, could have positive effects for heart failure patients. However, the benefits of value-based and alternative payment models such as the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and bundled payment programs for heart failure outcomes are less clear, and controversy exists regarding whether some of these programs may even worsen outcomes. As the population ages and the prevalence of heart failure continues to rise, this syndrome will likely remain a key clinical focus for policymakers. Therefore, heart failure clinicians should be aware of how legislation affects clinical practice and be prepared to adapt to continued changes in health policy.