Health Highlights: Sept. 24, 2008

Sept. 25 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Health Insurance Premiums Rise 5%

Health insurance premiums in the United States rose about 5 percent this year, a modest rise compared to the 119 percent jump overall since 1999, according to a report released Wednesday.

Premiums for family coverage rose to an average of $12,680 during the past year, while premiums for single coverage increased to an average $4,704, according to the analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research and Educational Trust.

While about 75 percent of each premium is still absorbed by employers, the trend in recent years has been to require workers to pay a higher percentage, the Associated Press reported.

In the past year, employees who paid deductibles of $1,000 or more rose to 18 percent from 12 percent, the wire service said. About one in three people employed by a small business now pays at least a $1,000 deductible.

Only about 62 percent of companies with fewer than 200 employees offer a health insurance benefit, the AP said. By comparison, 99 percent of larger businesses offer coverage.

-----

Armstrong, Stressing Cancer Project, Returning to Cycling

Lance Armstrong, who despite a battle with cancer won seven straight Tour de France bicycle races before he retired three years ago, will return to the sport in January, he said Wednesday.

At a New York City press conference, Armstrong also said that shortly after a race next year in Australia, he would hold the first global meeting of the Livestrong campaign to raise cancer awareness, The New York Times reported.

The 37-year-old Armstrong said he also would try for an eighth straight Tour de France victory next July.

He promised that his anti-cancer campaign would "touch all aspects of our society, all continents of our society, and certainly touch all the different aspects of cancer," the Times quoted him as saying.

Armstrong formed his foundation after a well-publicized bout with testicular cancer in the late 1990s.