During the early 2000s, Argentina'stotal expenditures on health, as a percentage of GrossDomestic Product (GDP), placed it among the top-20 countriesin the world in per capita health spending. For example,Argentina spent 8.9 percent of GDP in 2000 and 10.1 percentin 2006. The per-capita government expenditures on healthwere US$382 in 2000 and US$251 in 2006. Yet, despitesweeping healthcare reforms, relatively high public healthexpenditures compared to other countries in the region, anda restructuring of the country's insurance policy,quality and access to service remained a problem throughoutthe decade. Almost one third of the population lacked accessto basic healthcare. Although the reforms improved access tohealthcare for those employed in the formal sectors, theywere not enough to provide access for the poor, and theylacked the necessary incentives to improve the quality ofservice provision. Moreover, the poor continued to beexcluded from the health insurance system and had worse thanaverage health indicators.