The percentage of uninsured workers in large US companies climbed to 11 percent from 7 percent between 1987 and 2001, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

The report suggested the study result was unexpected because a company with more than 1,000 employees is much more likely to provide health coverage than a business of fewer than 25 people.

"Large companies have long formed the bedrock of the US system of employer-sponsored health insurance," said the report.

Roughly one out of four people without health coverage in the United States, which is about 10 million people, work part time or full time at companies with 500 or more workers, or are dependents of these workers, the study showed.

The report said as employers' health-care costs continue to soar, many are pushing benefits out of the reach of some low- income employees with stricter eligibility criteria and higher premium contributions for workers.

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