Primary Health Care federal funding in the Unified Health System: old and new dilemmas

ABSTRACT This article aims to discuss the financing of Primary Care in the SUS, seeking to highlight the historical persistence of the fragility of this funding in terms of the transfer model and a limited view of the concept of Primary Care. The article is structured in three parts. The first part discusses the historical trajectory of the concept of Primary Care, from its initial radicalism in the 1960s to the 'downsizing' brought about by the new National Policy of Primary Health Care (PNAB) of 2017. The second part addresses, in a historical perspective, the federal funding of the SUS, with emphasis on Primary Care and the assessment criteria used. The third part deals with the financing of Primary Care, highlighting the resources of the Ministry of Health for this level of care, focusing on the new PNAB 2017 and, in particular, those transferred through the Basic Attention Floor (PAB) Variable.