The dominance of finance in healthcare: Political action of unlimited capital in the 21st century

Abstract

This article gives, first, a historical account of the action of capital in healthcare in contemporary Brazil and then introduces a debate on the dominance of finance (‘financial dominance’) in healthcare based on one case to examine: the hypertrophy of the structure for intermediation in private healthcare existing in Brazil, using the theses of José Carlos de Souza Braga as its principal reference. The article highlights the nebulous nature of what happens at the interface between the public and private elements of the Brazilian health system, and the limits inherent to the use of reductionary, or dichotomic, models to explain details and factors in this interaction.