Ranks of Uninsured Grow; Poverty Rate Soars

The number of uninsured Americans rose to 46.3 million last year, up from 45.7 million in 2007, as the poverty rate hit an 11-year high, the Census Bureau announced today. The poverty rate was 13.2% for 2008, up from 12.5% in 2007, the largest annual jump since 2004. The White House says the figures underscore the need for health care reform and the importance of the stimulus, reports the Wall Street Journal. (More Obama administration stories.)