The purpose of this article is to reflect on the principle of universality in the Single Healthcare System (SUS), emphasizing the contradictions that permeate its enactment as a right held by everyone. It is based on the affirmation that the negation of the right to universal healthcare is directly linked to the process of mercantilization of the system. From this perspective, a theoretical study was conducted (both bibliographic and documental) in 2012 and 2013 from which was delineated an analysis that presents the reality of some universal systems and the contradictory mechanisms of denial of this right in Brazil.
Healthcare; Universalization; Privatization; Healthcare Reform; Healthcare systems