The number of people without health insurance fell in 2007 for the first time since President Bush took office in large part due to expanded government coverage for children, the U.S. Census Bureau said Tuesday. The number of people without health insurance dropped last year to 45.7 million, from 47 million in 2006, according to the bureau’s annual report on income, poverty and health insurance. The rate of people without health insurance also declined to 15.3% in 2007, down from 15.8% a year earlier. Some healthcare experts had expected the number of uninsured to increase as the long-term erosion of private, employment-based coverage continued. Instead, the figures showed a shift toward government coverage that added fuel to the debate over how to best expand access to healthcare. ‘This is good news and is entirely attributable to the availability of government programs like Medicaid and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP),’ said Lynn Blewett, a health services analyst with the State Health Access Data Assistance Center at the University of Minnesota. ‘Programs like SCHIP and Medicaid are lifelines for providing Americans with the healthcare they need, especially during times when the economy is soft and more […]