Because November is National Diabetes Awareness month, it is important to examine what diabetes means for employers. According to the National Diabetes Statistics Report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 19 million working-age adults have diabetes. Twenty-six percent of them are undiagnosed and therefore likely not managing their disease.

Even when managed, diabetes can cause symptoms like stress and fatigue, and result in chronic conditions such as hypertension and neuropathy. Stress in particular can be a major factor for those living with and managing diabetes. Checking blood sugar, taking medications, maintaining a balance of nutrition and exercise, and concerns about long-term health consequences can all be sources of distress for people living with diabetes. There is also a direct correlation between physical stress and poor glucose control, which can further complicate recovery from illness. Chronic health issues associated with diabetes can cause frequent, unplanned absences, which can cost employers hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost productivity. According to the Integrated Benefits Institute’s absence cost estimator tool, unplanned absences — 84 percent of which are due to illness or injury — would cost a company with 1,000 full-time employees $1.5 million annually in wage replacements and lost productivity.

When not well managed, diabetes can result in catastrophic health conditions like cardiovascular disease or kidney failure and lead to disability leave, which means less income for the employee and loss of productivity for the employer. If the employer is self-funded, covering an employee’s medical claims is an added burden. These serious conditions can generate hundreds of thousands in claims. Kidney disease, for example, generated $365 million in claims for self-funded employers from 2013 to 2016, according to Sun Life’s most recent analysis of high-dollar claims.