In Public Health Systems in the Age of Financialization, Ana Carolina Cordilha unpacks policy shifts that have transformed public health systems into vehicles for financial speculation and capital accumulation. While it is commonly thought that these systems are being cut back in the period of financialization, the author shows that current changes in public health financing go far beyond budget cuts and privatization measures. She examines how public health systems are adopting financial instruments and participating in financial accumulation strategies, with harmful impacts on transparency, democratic accountability, and health service provision. With an in-depth study of both the French and Brazilian systems, Cordilha explores the different ways in which this process unfolds in central and peripheral countries.
Ana Carolina Cordilha, Ph.D. (2022), Sorbonne Paris Nord University, teaches Quantitative Methods and Economic Development at Sorbonne Nouvelle University. She has several publications on financialization and social policy, including Financialisation and Public Health Systems: a new concept to examine ongoing reforms (2022).
Acknowledgments
List of Figures and Tables
Acronyms
Introduction
Part 1 Financialization as a New Concept to Examine Public Health Systems Change 1âFinancialization and Its Inroads into Public Policy
â1âFinance and Its Workings
â1.1âConventional Views of Finance
â1.2âThe Heterodox Critique
â1.3âThe Academic Scholarship on Financialization
â2âTogether But Different: Financialization in Central and Peripheral Countries
â2.1âFinancialization in France
â2.2âFinancialization in Brazil
â3âFinancialization and Social Provision
â3.1âThe Inroads of Finance in Areas of Social Provision
â3.2âThe Financialization of Social Policy
â3.3âThe Financialization of the State
â3.4âFinancialization and Central Governments: Changes in Public Debt Management
â3.5âEmerging Themes on State Financialization: Local Governments, Public Investments, and Social Provision
2âPublic Health Systems in Times of Financialization
â1âPublic Health Systems (phs)
â1.1âReasons for State Intervention in Health Care
â1.2âDefining Public Systems
â1.3âCommon Institutional Arrangements of phs
â1.4âphs in Historical Perspective
â2âConventional Approaches to Assess Health Systems Change
â2.1âDeconstructing the Notion of Privatization
â2.2âAgents
â2.3âNarratives
â2.4âTheoretical Underpinnings
â2.5âImpacts
â3âFinancialization in the Health Sector
â3.1âThe State of the Art of the Health Financialization Literature
â3.2âInvestment Platforms: a New Approach to Finance Global Health Policies
â3.3âOwnership Restructuring: Reshaping the Landscape of Private Health
â3.4âFinancial Innovations: a Novel Strategy for Public and Non-profit Agencies
â3.5âGaps in the Existing Research for the Public Sector
â3.6âFinancialization as a Distinctive Type of phs Change
â3.7âAgents
â3.8âNarratives
â3.9âTheoretical Underpinnings
â3.10âDifferent Paths, Same Driving Force: Austerity Policies
â3.11âImpacts of Financialization
â3.12âBridging Concepts Together: Privatization as a Driver of Financialization
â3.13âFinancialization as a Driver of Privatization
Part 2 From Theory to Practice: How Financialization Reshapes Public Health Systems 3âThe French System Pioneering Financialized Strategies in phs
â1âSocial Security and Public Health Care in France
â1.1âThe French System of Social Security
â1.2âThe French Public Health System: Assurance Maladie
â2.15âThe French Hospital Sector at a Glance
â2.16âBringing Hospitals and Banks Closer Together: a New Approach to Finance Investments
â2.17âDelving into the Credit-Based Financing Strategy
â2.18âThe Role of the State
â2.19âAddendum: Public Hospitals Venturing into Financial Markets
â2.20âFinancing Conditions and Intermediaries
â3âTaking Stock
4âThe Brazilian System A Trajectory (Mis)led by Financialization
â1âSocial Security and Public Health Care in Brazil
â1.1âThe Brazilian Social Security System
â1.2âThe Brazilian Public Health System: Sistema Ãnico de Saúde
â1.3âThe Quest to Consolidate Universal Health Care: Successes and Drawbacks
â1.4âThe Public Health System Today
â1.5âsus Accounts in Perspective
â2âMechanisms of Financialization
â2.1âPublic Health Revenues Feeding Financial Accumulation: Policies at the Federal Level
â2.2âThe 1999 Monetary Policy Regime and Its Associated Fiscal Policy Framework
â2.3âReinforcing the Macroeconomic Regime: Health Spending Rules
â2.4âBacking the Macroeconomic Regime: Rules for Social Security Revenues
â2.5âData Analysis and Interpretation: Health and Financial Expenditures in Perspective
â2.6âThe Role of Financial Institutions
â2.7âInvesting sus Revenues in Short-Term Financial Assets: Policies at the Subnational Level
â2.8âThe Role of Health Funds
â2.9âThe Rio de Janeiro State Health Fund
â2.10âThe Federal District Health Fund
â2.11âWhen the Financial System Overrides the Health System: Revenue Retention Practices
â2.12âSubsidized Credit Lines for sus Providers
â2.13âsus and the Philanthropic Health Sector
â2.14âGovernment Programs Connecting Philanthropic Hospitals and Banks
â2.15âConsigned Credit for Philanthropic Health Establishments
â2.16âThe Bank-Based Strategy in Numbers
â2.17âHow Credit-Based Hospital Financing Serves the Financial Sector
â2.18âTaking Stock
5âUncovering the Hidden Costs of Financialized Public Health Insights from Case Studies
â1âSystematizing Results: Common Trends
â2âShared Trends, Unique Expressions: Contrasting Central and Peripheral Experiences
â3âA Broader View of Financialized Policies in phs and the Role of the State
â4âImpacts of Financialized Policies on the Foundational Principles of phs
Appendix Additional Information on Data Sources and Treatment
References
Index
Scholars and professionals interested in public health and social policies, along with those concerned with the topic of financialization.