The good news, according to U.S. Census Bureau,is that the number of Americans without medical insurance dropped in 2007; it’s the first decline since President Bush took office.

The uninsured roster fell from 47 million in 2006 to 45.7 million last year, according to figures released this week.

The bad news is that the decrease was mainly due to expanded, government-provided safety net coverage for poor children as well as more people covered by military insurance, said Ron Pollock, executive director of Families USA, a health care advocacy organization.

He discussed the census figures at a Tuesday press conference at Denver’s Hilton Garden Inn.

“The number of uninsured — 45.7 million — is now larger than the combined population of 24 states plus the District of Columbia,”Pollock said.

Colorado’s census snapshot is cloudier than the national picture. The number of uninsured in the state rose to 813,000 people in 2007, or 16.8 percent of the populace. The data reveals that 570,000 Coloradans were living in poverty in 2007, including 185,240 children.

Other troublesome aspects of the census figures, Pollock said, are that the percentage of people covered by government programs such as Medicare rose while private health insurance receded and employment- based coverage continued to decline.

“Also, two-thirds of the uninsured are owners of small businesses or their employees,” he said.

Looking ahead, Pollock said, “The biggest downturn in the economy has been in 2008, not 2007, so it’s likely we’ll see worse figures in the coming year.”

2007 numbers

- 45.7 million: Number of uninsured Americans

- 813,000: Number of uninsured Coloradans

- 8.1 million: Number of Americans under 18 without insurance

- 37.3 million: Americans living in poverty

- 570,000: Number of Coloradans living in poverty

- $50,233: National median household income

- $55,212: Colorado median household income

Source: U.S. Census Bureau