Working families, while a little older at an average age of 39, were the second least impressed by their benefits experience, at 42 percent. They said they spend a significantly greater amount of time handling healthcare issues than either younger or older workers, which could be due to having to tackle the additional health 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 medications as the top reason, but 42 percent also say competing responsibilities are the reason. Among other groups, those two reasons are each cited by an average of 30 percent of respondents.

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

“Companies are spending millions of dollars each year launching programs and different point solutions to help their employees use health care effectively, but this survey shows how individuals are getting lost in the process,” Robert Cavanaugh, president of field operations for Accolade, said in a statement.

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