More in US go without health cover

THE number of people without health insurance in the US rose to 43.6 million last year, a jump of almost 6% from 2001 and the second consecutive annual increase.

The ranks of the uninsured swelled by 2.4 million as insurance costs kept rising and more Americans lost their jobs and health care coverage, the US Census Bureau said yesterday.

The percentage of Americans without health coverage rose from 14.6 to 15.2.