Aiming at analyzing the public regulation of the health care system in Brazil, this essay concerns the area of Healthcare Management and Policies. Taking regulation to mean the capacity to intervene in the offer of services, changing or orienting their execution, the paper discusses its historical evolution, its determinants, the different regulation strategies used, their objectives, the actors involved, and, in particular, the instruments created by the government, one of the actors. The study is based on a review of the subject, debating conceptual issues and the tools used in the regulatory process in the healthcare field, its reach and limitations.
health policy; SUS; health planning; health service