The number of people on Medicaid declined by 2.5 million, to 29 million, the bureau said. Some people who have insurance are unaware of it and do not report coverage, the bureau said. But such underreporting has affected federal surveys for years and would not explain the increase in the uninsured last year, officials said. The government said that 43.3 percent of the poor were covered by Medicaid at some time last year, down from 45.5 percent in 1996. Many poor people do not qualify for Medicaid.
Many states set income limits far below the poverty level.
Childless adults are often ineligible even if they are very poor. The Census Bureau found that the number of people with employer-sponsored health insurance rose last year, to 165.1 million, from 163.2 million in 1996. More people are working, and employers may be providing health benefits for some of those workers, even as they eliminate benefits for some dependents.