Health Highlights: Sept. 2, 2009

Sept. 3 -- Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by editors of HealthDay:

Many Employer-Based Health Plans Now Cost $20,000-Plus

In 2008, one in 10 workers in three states -- Alaska, Indiana and Minnesota -- was in employer-based family health insurance plans with costs that topped $20,000, according to new data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

In a new release, the agency said these costs were at least $7,000 more than the national average. And for the nation as a whole, 10 percent of workers (about 2 million people) had a family health insurance plan costing $17,000 or more. Overall, the average American family paid premiums totaling $12,298 in 2008, the AHRQ said.

Other 2008 data from the agency's analysis of private, employer-based plans:

• One in 10 workers ended up paying $6,700 out of pocket; the national average was $3,394;
• 10 percent of workers in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington spent at least $8,100 to obtain health coverage for their family;
• More than 3 million American workers had health insurance premiums at $6,200 or more, 41 percent higher than the national average of $4,386;
• One in every 10 workers enrolled in single person coverage plans paid $1,900 or more -- more than twice the national average.

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Detroit Leads Nation in Teen Births: Report

Detroit and Cleveland hold the dubious distinction of landing at the top of the list of U.S. cities with the highest rates of teen births, according to data from the National Center for Health Statistics and other sources. The data was tabulated in 2006, the latest year for which information is available.

As reported in the 2009 edition of Child Trends' Facts at a Glance, 20 percent of births in the Motor City were to women under the age of 20, while Cleveland came in second place with 19 percent of all births occurring among teen moms. Jackson, Miss., and Memphis, Tenn., followed with 18 percent.