The number of uninsured Americans decreased by 1.3 million from 2006 to 2007, a change largely attributable to an increase in government-sponsored coverage, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Aug. 26.

The Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty, and health insurance found that the number of uninsured people decreased from 47 million in 2006 to 45.7 million in 2007, or 15.8 percent to 15.3 percent of Americans.

However, during that time period, the percentage of people with private insurance decreased while the percentage of those covered by government health insurance increased, a shift some health policy analysts and advocates said is problematic.

“That's not a sustainable way to maintain our health care system over time,” Len Nichols, director of the health policy program at the New America Foundation, told BNA. ... LINK