Considering the particularities of Brazilian coalition presidentialism, this study intended to characterize the role of the Executive and Legislative branches in approving health policies during the Lula II (2007 to 2010) and Dilma I (2011-2014) mandates, through the use of typologies. It was observed a preference of both powers for distributive proposals: of a more programmatic character and with greater coverage, in terms of beneficiaries, when initiated by the Executive; and with a higher level of discretion and with a large proportion of symbolic proposals, in the case of those initiated by parliamentarians. The predominance of the theme of "Prevention" revealed the contextual phase of expanding the scope of the SUS legal framework.