35 Employee Challenges Resolved in 10 Weeks Through Benefit Navigation
Overview
Nearly 50 million workers in the United States make less than a living wage — despite working full-time hours, sometimes in more than one job, and often making wages well above federal and state minimums. Many of these workers don’t take advantage of social safety net programs because they don’t know about them, because applying is complex and confusing, or because they want to avoid the stigma associated with accessing social programs. Company leaders, especially CHROs and benefit managers, face growing pressure to support frontline and hourly employees facing rising housing costs, healthcare gaps, and financial volatility — challenges that traditional benefits alone are not designed to solve. These unmet social needs directly affect absenteeism, retention, healthcare utilization, and employee trust. This case study highlights how one company partnered with ITO Health to launch a targeted, low-lift benefit navigation program using ITO’s HealthWorks+™ platform — demonstrating measurable outcomes in the first quarter of operation while laying the groundwork for longer-term workforce stability.
The Challenge
Leadership recognized a consistent pattern: employees were encountering housing instability, gaps in health coverage, food insecurity, and sudden financial shocks that increased stress and distracted from work. While public programs existed, employees faced significant barriers.
Employees faced significant barriers:
- Complex applications and eligibility rules
- Time and documentation constraints
- Missed deadlines leading to benefit loss
- Limited capacity to follow up with multiple agencies
The company sought a scalable solution that would:
- Reduce acute financial and health-related risk for employees
- Improve access to existing public and community benefits
- Deliver measurable outcomes quickly
- Reinforce the employer’s commitment to dignity, trust, and retention
- Provide employees with tools and resources for continued success
The Solution
The company launched a confidential benefit navigation program offering employees direct access to dedicated ITO Health Navigators using HealthWorks+™.
Support included:
- Social needs assessment across housing, healthcare, food, finances, utilities, and transportation
- Hands-on application completion and documentation support
- Direct coordination with state agencies, utilities, and healthcare providers
- Follow-up and advocacy to prevent benefit loss and service disruption
The program is voluntary. The launch period was designed to gather feedback on implementation as well as evaluate early uptake and near-term outcomes.
The results
| Metric | Result |
|---|---|
| Employees engaged | 30 |
| Distinct challenges identified | 94 |
| Documented actions taken | 50 |
| Challenges fully resolved | 35 |
Where employees needed help most
Resolution highlights
Near-100% resolution rate for Medicaid enrollment, emergency financial assistance, utility protections, and transportation access. Strong success addressing urgent food access needs. Longer-term challenges (affordable housing placement, long-term financial planning) are ongoing with active navigator support.
How navigators reduced friction
- Completing applications alongside employees
- Preventing loss of health insurance and nutrition benefits
- Securing emergency funds to avert housing or utility crises
- Coordinating across agencies and providers on the employee’s behalf
- Providing persistence and follow-up that employees lacked time to manage
Why this matters for your business
Turnover risk mitigation
Housing instability, benefit loss, and utility shut-offs are leading predictors of frontline attrition. Resolving or stabilizing these issues reduces near-term flight risk.
Healthcare cost avoidance
Successful Medicaid enrollment, utility protections, and behavioral health access reduce reliance on emergency departments and crisis care.
Productivity protection
By offloading administrative burden, employees and their HR support teams spend less time managing crises during work hours.
Benefit efficiency
The program increases utilization of existing public benefits, reducing pressure on employer-sponsored plans.
Employer brand & trust
Employees report higher confidence that their employer is invested in their well-being — an increasingly important differentiator in competitive labor markets.
The program functions as a risk management layer for the workforce — addressing non-medical drivers of cost and churn that traditional benefits overlook.
This case study reflects anonymized, aggregate results from the first quarter of program deployment. To preserve confidentiality, no individual employee data or employer identity is disclosed.
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