Rick Karlin is reporting at Capitol Confidential New York residents pay the second highest health insurance rates in the nation. The Empire Center's NY Torch blog is reporting that New Yorkers covered by employer-sponsored health plans paid rates second only to the state of Alaska. Those costs have risen at three times the national average. The average family premium in New York in 2015, was more than $19,000 per year, compared to $17,300 nationally. According to Torch writer Bill Hammond, this has occurred despite aggressive regulation on the part of the State Department of Financial Services, which must give approval to certain types of policy increases. Read the full story at Capitol Confidential, a Times Union blog.