A government report said the number of Americans without medical insurance rose for the fourth consecutive year to a record high, according to Bloomberg News. The report also said the poverty rate climbed.
The U.S. Census bureau reported that 45.8 million Americans did not have medical benefits last year compared to 45 million in 2004. The number of people living in poverty last year grew by 1.1 million to 12.7 percent of the population up from 12.5 percent in 2003, the report said.
Despite an expansion in the U.S. economy that created jobs, the uninsured population rose. Rising costs in health care has forced employers to drop benefits or require workers to pay more.
The Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit organization studying health trends, reported that health expenses for companies increased an average of 12 percent last year, five times faster than wages.
Companies are the source of medical benefits for 170 million Americans, according to the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington.
Bloomberg News
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