The percentage of all American adults with employer-based health insurance was 44.2% in the second quarter of 2012, a figure which has generally decreased since 2008. However, government-based health insurance — Medicare, Medicaid, and military/veterans’ benefits – is at 25.7% in the second quarter of 2012, and is still much higher than it was in 2008 and 2009.

The increase in government health insurance is evident among 18- to 25-year-olds and 26- to 64-year-olds. In the second quarter of 2012, 19.7% of adults aged 18 to 25 said they get their health coverage from a government program, up from 18.9% in 2011, and much higher than the 16.3% who said the same in 2008.