[Private health insurance in Brazil: approaches to public/private patterns in healthcare]

Abstract

This article draws on a previous review of 270 articles on private health plans published from 2000 to 2010 and selects 17 that specifically address the issue of the relationship between the public and private healthcare sectors. Content analysis considered the studies' concepts and terms, related theoretical elements, and predominant lines of argument. A reading of the argumentative strategies detected the existence of a critical view of the modus operandi in the public/private relationship based on Social Medicine and the theoretical tenets of the Brazilian Health Reform Movement. The study also identified contributions based on neoliberal business approaches that focus strictly on economic issues to discuss private health insurance. Understanding the public/private link in healthcare obviously requires the development of a solid empirical base, analyzed with adequate theoretical assumptions due to the inherent degree of complexity in the public/private healthcare interface.