Federalism and decentralization: Impact on International and Brazilian Health Policies

This article discusses the implications of decentralization in the light of international and Brazilian federalism, and its effects on public health policy. In a comparative analysis among countries, the authors find there is no single model; rather, each country has a unique structure of institutions and norms that have important implications for the operation of its health system. Brazil shares some similarities with other countries that have adopted a decentralized system and is assuming features ever closer to U.S. federalism, with a complex web of relationships. The degree of inequality among Brazilian municipalities and states, along with the budgetary imbalances caused by the minimal levels of resource utilization, undermines Brazil's constitutional principles and, consequently, its federalism. To ensure the constitutional mandate in Brazil, it is essential, as in other countries, to create a stable source of funds and increase the volume and efficiency of spending. Also important are investing in the training of managers, improving information systems, strengthening the principles of autonomy and interdependence, and defining patterns of cooperation within the federation

Renúncia de arrecadação fiscal: subsídios para discussão e formulação de uma política pública Tax expenditures on health care: contributions toward a public policy agenda

Este trabalho pretende investigar diversos aspectos relacionados aos incentivos governamentais que permitem o abatimento de parte dos gastos das famílias e empresas com assistência à saúde no imposto de renda. Como tais incentivos são deduzidos da renda tributável das pessoas físicas e do lucro tributável das pessoas jurídicas, a arrecadação fiscal do Estado é forçosamente reduzida. Segundo estimativa da Secretaria da Receita Federal, o valor desta renúncia, considerando as despesas com planos de saúde e os desembolsos diretos com assistência médico-hospitalar, girou em torno de R$2,8 bilhões em 2005. Em um quadro de subfinanciamento crônico do SUS, esta problemática será discutida à luz da eqüidade do financiamento e dos conflitos de interesse evidenciados no setor saúde.<br>The work discusses the tax incentives with private medical expenses to families and workers in Brazil. The estimate presented by the Federal Fiscal Authority is R$ 2,8 billions in 2005. Initially, a review of concepts about the matter is performed that stressed the lack of consensus in the academic community, about the meaning of tax expenditures. It discussed, also, the relations between this fiscal policy and demand to private health insurance. After, the article presents the results of a documental research concerning political positions of relevant Brazilian social actors found in the 2000's. The discussion pointed to problems of equity and conflicts of interests that are involved with the changes in the rules that discipline these incentives

O comportamento da renúncia fiscal oriunda dos gastos privados com atenção à saúde entre os anos 1996 e 2003 Tax expenditures with health care in Brazil: the behavior between the years 1996 and 2003

<abstract language="eng">This article presents an economic approach trying to get the interrelations between the private expenditures on health care and the tax expenditures. It shows an overview of the family's expenses on health care confronted to the total of the same item declared to Secretaria da Receita Federal (Income Tax) that was converted into tax expenditures