Compared to adults who never finished high school, adults with a high school degree live longer and with less disability. And those longer, healthier lives are worth an additional $693,000 among men and $757,000 among women. "We often think about health insurance access or medical procedures, like mammography or colonoscopy, as the most important drivers of health," said study co-author Patrick Krueger, Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Behavioral Sciences. "But education could be a more substantial contributor to longevity than medical care. Policy makers seldom act on that evidence, though, because researchers haven't demonstrated the value of education for longer, healthier lives in terms of dollars and cents."