Because November is National Diabetes Awareness month, it isimportant to examine what diabetes means for employers. Accordingto the National Diabetes Statistics Report by the Centers for DiseaseControl (CDC), approximately 19 million working-age adults havediabetes. Twenty-six percent of them are undiagnosed and thereforelikely not managing their disease.

Even when managed, diabetes can cause symptoms like stress andfatigue, and result in chronic conditions such as hypertension andneuropathy. Stress in particular can be a major factor for thoseliving with and managing diabetes. Checking blood sugar, takingmedications, maintaining a balance of nutrition and exercise, andconcerns about long-term health consequences can all be sources ofdistress for people living with diabetes. There is also a directcorrelation between physical stress and poor glucose control, whichcan further complicate recovery from illness. Chronic health issuesassociated with diabetes can cause frequent, unplanned absences,which can cost employers hundreds of thousands of dollars in lostproductivity. According to the Integrated Benefits Institute’sabsencecost estimator tool, unplanned absences — 84 percent of whichare due to illness or injury — would cost a company with 1,000full-time employees $1.5 million annually in wage replacements andlost productivity.

When not well managed, diabetes can result in catastrophichealth conditions like cardiovascular disease or kidney failure andlead to disability leave, which means less income for the employeeand loss of productivity for the employer. If the employer isself-funded, covering an employee’s medical claims is an addedburden. These serious conditions can generate hundreds of thousandsin claims. Kidney disease, for example, generated $365 million inclaims for self-funded employers from 2013 to 2016, according toSun Life’s most recent analysis of high-dollar claims.

In addition to its impact to the bottom line, diabetesrepresents a potent co-morbid condition. If a person is dealingwith other health issues, diabetes can prolong recovery time,sometimes quite significantly. Analysis of Sun Life’s claims from2005 to 2014 that went from short-term to long-term disabilityshowed that, on average, claimants who had been diagnosed withdiabetes as a co-morbid condition stayed on leave 50 percent longerthan those who did not note a diabetes diagnosis. Short-termdisability duration was particularly lengthy among claimants whofiled claims for conditions closely related to diabetes, likevascular problems, eye conditions and neurological issues. Suchpeople stayed on leave 40, 50 and 129 more days,respectively.

Workplace health and wellness have been improving in recentyears, as more people focus on living healthier lives and seekemployers that offer benefits to support their efforts. Employershave begun to focus on workplace wellness in several differentways, including via on-site fitness and medical facilities,employee engagement activities, and better nutritional offerings incafeterias and vending machines.

However, employers don’t always have the resources to providethis level of support. Fortunately, many community partners areavailable to work with employers in this effort. For example, theAmerican Diabetes Association offers programs and initiativesfocused on employee health engagement, as well as their HealthChampion Designation program, which awards companies that meetspecific criteria for fostering a healthier workforce (such aswellness activities and better nutritional options). The YMCA ofthe USA also offers a Diabetes Prevention Program to members oflocal communities. Based on the program designed by the Centers forDisease Control and Prevention, and supported by the AmericanDiabetes Association, the Y’s yearlong lifestyle-change program isfor at-risk adults, helping them learn to combat the disease byeating healthier, adding physical activity to their daily routine,and improving coping skills. Recently, the Y has been bringing thisprogram to employers and helping them customize it according totheir workforces’ needs.

Benefits research has shown that employers that can offer theseservices and foster a healthier workforce will see their ownbenefits. Having a healthy workforce makes happier, more productiveemployees and leads to fewer absences. Yet chronic healthconditions like diabetes and its related complications are asprevalent as ever, and the impacts to employers’ bottom lines canbe a major disruption. To address health-care costs, costs ofabsence and even the length of disability leave, employers shouldproactively focus on employee health, emphasizing diabetes andrelated conditions.

For more information on the programs available through theAmerican Diabetes Association and YMCA USA, visit www.diabetes.org/in-my-community/wellness-lives-here,and www.ymca.net.

Sheila F. Weiss is Assistant Vice President, Clinical ClaimsServices, at Sun Life Financial U.S. Stay tuned for Sun Life’s nextarticle, discussing the role of dental and vision coverage indiabetes care