DARKE COUNTY - As unemployment rises throughout the county more and more adults are being left without medical insurance coverage. Among nine counties grouped together in the Ohio west central area by by the Ohio Family Health Survey, including Darke, Miami, Champaign, Clark, Greene, Montgomery, Preble, Warren, and Butler, Darke ranked the highest with 21.3 percent of uninsured adults.
The Ohio Family Health Survey is one of the largest and most comprehensive state-level health and insurance surveys conducted in the country. The survey was conducted by interviewing more than 51,000 adults.
Within the same survey, 13,000 children were participants and it was determined that the percentage of uninsured children has actually dropped from 5.4 percent in in 2004, to 4 percent in 2008 overall the state. Darke County ranked third highest in uninsured children among the nine counties in the Ohio west central area.
"We have noticed a definite increase in people coming in for treatment without medical insurance," said Credit Collection Supervisor at Wayne Hospital Carolyn Brant. "Not only is the increase in unemployment having an effect, but a lot of people that do have insurance have a greater out of pocket expense."
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