Family Spending on Health in Brazil: Some Indirect Evidence of the Regressive Nature of Public Spending in Health

This report analyzes the structure of family health spending in Brazil between 1987 and 1996, using a survey taken in 1996 survey of health spending by households. This report also tries to identify, although indirectly, the impact that universal access to health care had on family spending by income. Although the analysis found that the these measures did not narrow the gap between spending on health care by poor families and more affluent families, it did yield important lessons that will be helpful in crafting future health policies.