Finances, Good Health Keeping Ohioans Out Of Doctors' Offices

A new survey finds almost a million Ohioans don't have a regular health care professional they see about medical matters. 43 percent of those without a family doctor or nurse practitioner say the reason is that they're in good health, not because they lack health insurance. The recently-released Ohio Family Health Survey found that another 29 percent said they don't have a regular doctor because they can't afford one. Researchers say the study also found that some about 634,000 Ohioans rely on hospital emergency departments for health care, whether they have insurance or not. Many in that group say the ER is convenient. The results are based on a 2010 state-funded survey of nearly 8,300 adults and proxy responses for more than 2,000 children.