New York CNN —Workers and their employers are paying a lot more for job-based health insurance this year. The annual cost of family health insurance coverage at work soared to an average of nearly $24,000 this year, according to KFF’s Employer Health Benefits Survey, released Wednesday. The tight job market has prompted companies to avoid watering down their health insurance coverage since it can be a recruiting and retention tool. Nearly a quarter of companies said they will increase employees’ premium contributions in the next two years, KFF found. Some 7% of large employers -— and 19% of companies with at least 5,000 workers — provide or plan to provide such reimbursement.

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