Financial sustainability of the Brazilian health system and health-related tax expenditures

Abstract

Using official data from Brazil’s Internal Revenue Service, this article estimates health-related federal tax expenditures between 2003 and 2015. The Ministry of Health will thus be able to assess the relevance of these subsidies within a context of gross underfunding of Brazil’s public health system. The analysis was built around concepts and theories developed in the fields of political economy and public finance, focusing on policies directed at public funding of the health sector. The results show that tax expenditures associated with health insurance plans was R$12.5 billion in 2015. It is suggested that these resources could be put to better use in public primary care and medium-complexity care services.