More are uninsured as employers drop coverage.(News)

WASHINGTON -- The number of people in the United States without health insurance rose to 45 million in 2003, U.S. Census Bureau data show.

The increase from 2002 to 2003 amounted to 1.4 million uninsured Americans, with the percentage of uninsured rising from 15.2% to 15.6% of the population, according to the bureau's report: Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003.

The bureau cited a decline in employer-based health insurance as an important reason for the rise in the uninsured population. The number of people covered by employer-based plans fell from 175 million people (61.3%) in 2002 to 174 million (60.4%) in 2003. That change overshadowed a slight uptick in government-sponsored coverage.

"It's hard to say what caused the change in employment insurance coverage," Daniel H. Weinberg, Ph.D., chief of housing and household economic statistics with the Census Bureau, said at a press briefing sponsored by the bureau.

"There's been a long time trend of firms offering less generous plans," according to Dr. Weinberg.

Despite the trend away from employers luring staff with generous benefits packages, being employed does seem to improve one's chances of getting coverage. Among people 18 to 64 years of age in 2003, 82.5% of those with full-time jobs had health insurance, compared with 76.2% of part-time workers and 74% of nonworkers.

Even so, the uninsured rate for those working full time increased from nearly 16.8% in 2002 to 17.5% in 2003.