By CQ Staff
March 27, 2007 -- The U.S. Census Bureau has lowered its estimate of the number of Americans without health insurance to 44.8 million, down from 46.6 million. The bureau blamed the incorrect higher estimate released last August on some household members being tabulated as uninsured when in fact they reported being covered. Advocates for wider coverage said the change doesn't make the issue less of a priority, arguing that the data still shows the uninsured population has been growing since 2000. "Few people could argue that 44.8 million people people living without insurance is an acceptable number," said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund. The latest figure is a 2005 estimate; the number for 2006 is due out in August 2007.