The report released by the U.S. Census Bureau said that the number of Americans without health insurance has decreased for the first time in several years. The number fell by 1.3 million as compared to 46.9 million in 2006 to 45.7 million Americans without health insurance in 2007.

David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division said, "Both the percentage and number of people without health insurance decreased in 2007."

This decrease in numbers is mostly due to Medicare and State Children's Health Insurance Program. States are financed under SCHIP a federal government program with the aim of providing health insurance to families with children, and was created to cover uninsured kids in families with low incomes, but too high to be eligible for Medicaid.

Health care an important aspect in the upcoming presidential elections has democratic candidate Barack Obama and John McCain outlining reform plans to try to improve the system. A report by the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution shows that people feel Obama’s health care plan would reduce the number of Americans without health insurance by 18 million in 2009 while McCain’s plan would reduce it by 1 million in 2009.

The report also highlighted that in Ohio State, 12.4 % of the population or 1.2 million people had no insurance cover between the years 2005-2007, while the national average for the same period was 15.4 % or approximately 45.8 million people. Texas State had the highest rate of 24.4% while Massachusetts and Hawaii had the lowest at 8.3 %.

Medicaid, a cooperative venture that gives cover to needy people saw an increase from 38.3 million to 39.6 million and the number of children with out any health cover reduced to 8.1 million. The Census Bureau said the total number of people insured by government programs increased from 80.3 million in 2006 to 83 million by 2007.

Private health insurance coverage rate dropped to 67.5 percent of Americans in 2007, from 67.9 percent in 2006 while the number of people with private coverage was steady at 202 million.

"As that continues to erode, one worries we are headed for even lower numbers," stated health care economist Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, a private, charitable foundation designed to promote a high performing health care system. "This means we need a comprehensive solution to deal with our fragmented health care delivery system and some guarantee that everyone can get coverage that is it supportable."