Public Health Costs in Brazil: An analysis between 2004 and 2021

This study aims to analyse the behaviour of public health costs in Brazilian municipalities between 2004 and 2021. We collected 6,388 complete and consistent data on public health costs from 360 Brazilian municipalities, selected at random and adjusted for inflation as of December 2022. The results indicate that costs are rising, with a maximum in 2020 and a minimum in 2004. The southeast had the highest total cost, while the north had the lowest. Municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants spent the most on inpatient and outpatient care, while municipalities with less than 50,000 inhabitants spent the most on primary care. However, when distributed by region and size of municipality, there were significant variations, and the forecast analysis shows that the growth in real costs is faster and more uneven than estimated. It was found that differences in the demographic, socioeconomic and epidemiological characteristics of the population have an impact on the financing structure of the SUS.

Keywords:
Costs and Cost Analysis; Public Health; Cost Allocation