Abstract

VAZQUEZ, Daniel Arias. The effects of Brazilian Federal regulation on health financing. Cad. Saúde Pública [online]. 2011, vol.27, n.6, pp. 1201-1212. ISSN 0102-311X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-311X2011000600017.

The article aimed to analyze the impacts of earmarking revenues and conditional transfers on the supply of health financing in Brazil. After analyzing the role of these Federal regulation mechanisms on decentralized healthcare administration, the article verified the effects on total expenditure in health and disaggregated by level of government, evaluated whether transfers by the Unified National Health System (SUS) were consistent with the evolution in the decentralized supply, and measured the inequalities in per capital health spending by municipalities. The conclusions showed the complementary relationship between earmarking revenues and conditional transfers according to supply, which: (1) increased the share of State and Municipal governments in health financing; (2) provided incentives for the decentralization of primary care according to Federal guidelines; and (3) reduced the inequalities between municipalities in per capita health expenditures.

Keywords : Health Financing; Government Regulation; Decentralization; Primary Health Care.