A record 45 million Americans now have no health coverage.

Byline: Alan Bavley

Aug. 27--KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Layoffs and rising health-care costs helped add 1.4 million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured last year, to a record total of 45 million people.

It was the third annual increase in a row, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau. Since 2000, the number of people without health insurance has increased by 5.2 million.

With 15.6 percent of the population now without health coverage -- the highest percentage since 1998 -- the problems of the uninsured could further raise the profile of health care as an issue in the tight presidential race.

Both Democratic candidate John Kerry and Republican incumbent George Bush have proposed measures to cut health-care costs and insure more people.

"This issue resonates strongly with adults throughout the country and through all income groups and across the political spectrum," said Sara Collins, an economist with the nonpartisan Commonwealth Fund. "People sense this is a problem in their lives and they're calling on policy-makers to fix it."

As he struggles to make do without insurance, Jason Williams, a factory worker from Kansas City, watches the cable television coverage of the campaign.…