Census report: More Americans relying on Medicare, Medicaid (VIDEO)

More people relied on state and federal health insurance programs as employer-based plans became more expensive and as US unemployment levels remained high, according to the US Census Bureau's annual report on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage.

About 1.5 million fewer Americans had health insurance plans covered by their employers in 2010 than in 2009 – while 1.8 million more joined government insurance plans.

The number of people covered by Medicaid, the government program for the poor, increased 1.5 percent to 48.6 million. Those covered by Medicare, the government program for the elderly, rose 2.1 percent to 44.3 million.

Already, Republican presidential candidates are attacking President Obama's new health-care law for growing the size of the federal government. So what do these numbers say about his health-care reform?

Some say the report demonstrates a weakness in the Obama health-care law – and is a clear admonition for voters.

“As federal lawmakers and the Obama administration grapple with significant budget cuts, the increase in the number of Americans who lack job-based health insurance very well could put more strain on federally funded programs like Medicare and Medicaid,” says John Egan, managing editor of InsuranceQuotes.com. “In other words, taxpayers could end up footing a bigger chunk of the health-care bill for Americans who do not have employer-sponsored health insurance.”

Passed by a Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law last year, the Affordable Health Care Act was designed to expand insurance coverage to some 32 million uninsured by the time it goes into full effect in 2014.

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