Canada (EN)
There’s no denying AI’s impact on virtually every facet of our lives. As a result, employees are becoming increasingly comfortable using AI to make benefits decisions. Yet when a health issue becomes serious or personal, most still want guidance from another human being.
In the workplace, the verdict is still out for many employees, with 36% scared that AI will take their jobs and 44% skeptical of its output or recommendations, according to the upcoming 2026 Alight U.S. Employee Mindset Study. Still, a significant percentage of people are hopeful (40%) or excited (38%) about AI’s impact on their work and careers as their comfort level with the technology continues to grow.
Across the board, they are comfortable using it to choose a medical plan, find a doctor or make a change with their retirement plan. More than half (56%) have used AI to help with benefits decisions, and 63% of them say they find AI resources helpful in those instances. The message is clear: AI is already reshaping how employees navigate healthcare benefits. It’s incumbent upon employers to meet them where they are.
The healthcare navigation landscape
Overwhelmed by healthcare complexity, employees often struggle to choose the most suitable health plan, locate providers, weigh their treatment options, sort out medical bills or apply for a leave of absence, when necessary. According to the 2026 Mindset Study, just 31% of workers feel very confident when making health decisions, while 43% admit to delaying or avoiding medical care because it felt too difficult or confusing. Two-thirds (67%) regretted a healthcare decision in the last 12 months, primarily because they jumped into treatment without asking the right questions or took advice from someone who was not a healthcare professional.
In this challenging environment, AI can reduce the effort required to navigate healthcare by surfacing the right information at the right time, often before employees know what questions to ask.
Increasingly, healthcare navigation is leveraging the transformative power of AI, particularly generative AI and agentic AI, which has the ability to answer questions, simplify jargon into everyday language and provide comprehensive support, like provider recommendations, cost estimates, prescription reviews, billing advocacy, program referrals and appointment scheduling assistance.
of workers admit to delaying or avoiding medical care because it felt too difficult or confusing
These emerging types of AI enable a healthcare navigation solution to go beyond simple chatbots into true personalized guidance. By analyzing claims and other personal data, agentic AI can identify what an employee needs without them even asking for it. If an employee is due (or overdue) for their annual well visit, for example, it can reach out to that individual to learn whether they’re simply procrastinating or may possibly have moved and need to find a new provider.
Likewise, if an employee adds a new dependent to their health plan, AI can take that information and reach out to ask, “Do you need a pediatrician? Would you like to set up a dependent care flexible spending account?” Or an employee submitting claims related to childbirth can be asked if they are in need of additional resources for lactation or postpartum, common issues for new mothers. Granted, employers must be sure to utilize the dependent verification process to confirm eligibility of new dependents at the point of enrollment.
Keeping the human touch in healthcare navigation
The role of AI in healthcare navigation is significant, but benefits are still a people business. Employees often engage with their health benefits when they’re the most vulnerable. So, while AI has a major role to play, employees still need a human to handle sensitive topics, provide personalized, empathetic guidance and give them advice. Particularly when dealing with health matters, employees need someone to interact with on a personal level and possibly even talk them off the emotional ledge in the case of a scary diagnosis. For all its advantages, AI can’t do that.
Granted, AI can process vast amounts of information, identify trends and perform tasks with remarkable accuracy and speed, but it cannot replace the human touch. It takes a human to comprehend complex emotions, recognize contextual clues or detect confusion, urgency or stress. That’s why the most effective healthcare navigation solutions are those that balance technology with real human interaction to ensure that employees gain the advantage of AI’s speed and accuracy, while experiencing the peace of mind found in actual human-to-human conversation.
Healthcare navigation is most effective when AI handles complexity and humans handle care. Alight Healthcare Navigation takes this one step further by assigning each participant with their own dedicated Health Pro, rather than routing them to the “next available agent” each time they call. This enables them to build a trusted relationship with a trained professional who knows their situation, understands their priorities and responds with true empathy.
The ultimate goal of any benefits program should be to help individuals every step of the way in their healthcare journey. By providing clear guidance and reliable advice, AI-powered healthcare navigation tools, combined with real human interaction, transform stressful processes into achievable tasks.
