Federative Arrangements and Health Inequalities in Brazil and Argentina

Abstract

The objectives of the article are to compare the institutional arrangements of Brazil and Argentina’s health policies while focusing on the countries’ federative arrangements, and the outcome of said policies in terms of universalization and equality between levels of government. We sought to answer a recurring question in the debate on federalism: does the format of federative relations have consequences on the making of universal and egalitarian policies? The study is based on original and bibliographic sources to compare institutional arrangements and on quantitative data of aspects addressed in the analysis of the results: coverage, resources, quality of care, and health situation. It compares the health indicators of the federated units using measures of dispersion and inequality. Finally, the article reinforces the argument emphasizing the peculiarities of federative arrangements and how they coordinate with other institutional dimensions to interpret policy results and to fill gaps in comparative studies.