Young Adults No Longer Most Likely to be Uninsured

Young adults no longer have the distinction of being the age group least likely to have health insurance. The percentage of 18-to-26-year-olds without health insurance fell from 28.6 percent in 2009 to 24.0 percent in the January-April 2011 time period--a 4.6 percentage point decline. Behind the decline is the provision in the Health Care Reform Act, which went into effect in September 2010, allowing adults under age 26 to remain on their parents' health insurance plan.

Now people aged 27 to 35 are the ones least likely to have health insurance. In the January-April 2011 time period, 26.7 percent of the age group was uninsured, up from 25.2 percent in 2009.

Source: Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index