Primary Health Care: continuity and change in public health at the Federal District

ABSTRACT Primary Health Care (PHC) has a prominent position in the Brazilian governmental agenda. This study focuses on the health system in the Federal District and the initiatives to reorganize PHC, with the analysis of expenditure behavior in order to identify aspects of continuity and change during the period from 2005 to 2014. To achieve this purpose, documental research was carried out focusing on data from the Public Budget Information System. Drawing on historical neo-institutionalism, the results reveal contradiction between the discourse in defense of PHC and the maintenance of high level of expenditure with hospital services, thus confirming path dependence characteristic.