This week, the Census Bureau issued its report on health insurance coverage for 2005. The number of uninsured Americans rose by 1.3 million in a year, to 15.9% of the population. Of that increase, about 74% were full-time workers. (See the Kaiser Network for more highlights.)

Since the number of uninsured Americans rose almost as fast as the number of the insured (1.3 million compared to 1.4 million), and since most of those people work full-time, it's once again clear that fewer and fewer people are getting health insurance through their jobs. The U.S. government ought to recognize that an increasing number of workers needs access to lower-cost insurance through unions and professional organizations, and then use funding and regulatory changes to support such groups.