Human resources executives may have devoted a lot of time andinvestment to boosting health benefits and health-relatedservices, but that doesn’t mean their workers arereaping all the benefits.

Some workers, in fact, are having more trouble than others innegotiating their way through the system. According to the ConsumerHealthcare Experience Index survey, conducted by Harris Poll onbehalf of health care concierge Accolade, younger workers — thoseunder 30 years old — and working families need more support tonavigate both health care and benefits, or they won’t be able toavail themselves of improvements that employers have added.

Young workers averaging under30 years old are the most lacking in confidence about their abilityto work their way through the health care system. Just 56 percentsay they are comfortable doing so, while among retirees the figureis much higher: 76 percent say they’re comfortable tackling thehealth care system.

Those young workers also have the least positive experience withtheir health care and benefits —only 38 percent regard it as positive — and encounter the mosthassles in areas such as understanding cost, coordinating care,choosing and understanding benefits, and finding a doctor they canrelate to. They also blame financial issues and a lack of knowledgeabout health care as their top reasons for making poor healthdecisions.

Working families, while a little older at an average age of 39,were the second least impressed by their benefits experience, at 42percent. They said they spend a significantly greater amount oftime handling healthcare issues than either younger or olderworkers, which could be due to having to tackle the additionalhealth needs of children and parents or other relatives.

What drives working families’ poor healthcare decisions? Most —60 percent — lay the blame on the cost of services and medicationsas the top reason, but 42 percent also say competingresponsibilities are the reason. Among other groups, those tworeasons are each cited by an average of 30 percent ofrespondents.

Older workers, with an average age of 56, do better than eitherof the aforementioned groups, but even there they’re not happy;just 45 percent gave the experience a positive rating. Retirees, onthe other hand, at an average age of 69, seem most comfortable withtheir health care decision-making abilities, at 76 percent; theyalso report the most positive health care experience (59 percent)and perceive the fewest hassles in navigating their care andbenefits.

“Companies are spending millions of dollars each year launchingprograms and different point solutions to help their employees usehealth care effectively, but this survey shows how individuals aregetting lost in the process,” Robert Cavanaugh, president of fieldoperations for Accolade, said in a statement.

Cavanaugh added, “Health benefits executives should be asking ifthey’re really getting the maximum return on these tools andtechnologies, if they’re actually creating additional problems andcomplexity for employees, and whether programs are working foreveryone, from young workers to working families to olderworkers at different stages of their life and health journeys.”