Gallup: One-fourth of American adults get government health insurance

One of every four U.S. adults relies on government-backed health insurance, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

Seniors and young adults are most likely to depend on Medicare, Medicaid or military-related benefits, according to Gallup.

Gallup has documented an increase in government-supplied health insurance and a decrease in employer-provided health insurance since the economic collapse started in 2008. In the first three months of 2011, according to Gallup, 25.7 percent of all American adults said they had government health insurance. This is about the same as the number — 25.3 percent — for 2010, but up from 24.6 percent in 2009 and 23.4 percent in 2008.

Gallup says its survey results show that government-backed health insurance has grown among all age groups, not just seniors — suggesting that the rise in government-supplied insurance is tied more to high unemployment than to the aging population. Nonetheless, three-fourths of seniors (age 65 and over) get health insurance from a government program, Gallup says.