National Poverty Rate Declines

A group of children make their way home from a grade school in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2007, in Cincinnati. Ohio has the distinction of having two cities in the U.S. Census Bureau's list of poorest big cities, with Cincinnati third, and Cleveland fourth. (AP Photo/Al Behrman) (Al Behrman - AP)

The poverty rate _ the percentage of people living below poverty _ helps shape the debate on the health of the nation's economy.

Democrats on Capitol Hill said the insurance numbers justify spending more money for a popular government health insurance program for children.

Both chambers of Congress recently passed bills that would dramatically increase funding for the Children's Health Insurance Program, known as SCHIP. The Bush administration, however, opposes both measures saying they would result in people abandoning private coverage for public coverage for children.

The share of Americans without health insurance hit 15.8 percent last year, the highest percentage since 1998. In 2005, 15.3 percent were without insurance.

The annual increase was fueled mainly by a decline in the share of workers covered by employer-provided health insurance, said Johnson.

The income group with the most people losing insurance was households making $75,000 or more a year, showing that the issue is not limited to the poor.

Bush said the growing number of people without health insurance presents a challenge. "Containing costs and making health insurance more affordable is the best way to reverse this long-term trend," Bush said.

Several Democrats running for president said the insurance numbers point to weaknesses in the nation's health care system.

"These statistics show what most Americans know: Tens of millions of our fellow citizens are completely left out of the economic progress enjoyed by the individuals and corporations on the very top," said Democrat John Edwards, who has made eradicating poverty a centerpiece of his campaign. "We need truly universal health care and a national effort to eliminate poverty."

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton noted that there were a lot fewer people without health insurance when she first addressed the issue as first lady. In 1993, there were 39.7 million Americans without health insurance, according to the Census Bureau.

"It is an even deeper outrage today," she said in a statement.

Sen. Barack Obama issued a statement that said, "We can keep making excuses for this or ignore it altogether, but as long as these statistics exist they will always be a betrayal of the ideals we hold as Americans."