Current trends indicate employment-based health insurance - the most common form of health insurance coverage - is slowly eroding and will likely continue to do so.

According to new research from the nonpartisan Employee Benefits Research Institute, 61 percent of working-age Americans (including workers and their family members) had health coverage through a job in 2008, down 1 percentage point from a year earlier. That's also more than 7 percentage points from the high of 68 percent in 2000, and lower than the 64 percent level of 1994, when former President Clinton last attempted health reform. Research implies a weak economy and growing unemployment will fuel this continuing decline.

While fewer people working no doubt means fewer individuals with access to health benefits in the workplace, EBRI indicates an increasing number of workers are likely to forego coverage even when it's available, as they face uncertainty regarding the economy, the future of job security and the possibility of health reform.