WASHINGTON - More Americans are working for companies that don't offer health insurance plans, two reports released Thursday concluded.

One report found that the percentage of the population with employer-sponsored insurance continued to drop despite an upturn in the economy. Another report found that about three-fourths of the decline in coverage was due to a lack of employers offering it or ineligibility.

Both reports, sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Alliance for Health Reform, indicated that Americans who are self-employed or work for small businesses are more likely to be uninsured than those who work for larger companies.

One of the studies showed that the percentage of Americans in the labor force with insurance fell from 81.2 percent in 2001 to 77.4 percent in 2005, or about 2.2 million workers, despite an economic upturn during that period.

Public policy experts who spoke at the briefing Thursday urged the public to press lawmakers to develop a plan to provide every American with affordable health insurance.

Panelists said the increase in the number of uninsured despite recent economic growth makes it clear that the nation can't expect the economy to fix the problem.

"It's not because people are declining health insurance, its because people are not being offered health insurance," said Jeanne Lambrew, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.

One of the reports also indicated that the number of uninsured Americans coincides with a shift in the population toward the South and West, where there are more uninsured workers than in other areas of the country. The number of people living in the South and West rose by 6 million between 2000 and 2003, out of a 7.6 million increase in the overall population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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By Patrice Relerford
Cox News Service

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