OBJECTIVE: To assess the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of anemia patients in the U.S. METHODS: SF-12 and EQ-5D results from adults (age >= 18) in the 2000 and 2002 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) were used in this study. The anemia sample (i.e. patients with anemia, ICD9CM 280-285) was compared to a non-anemia sample (i.e. people without anemia) using SF-12 physical and mental scores and EQ-5d index scores. Differences in HRQL scores between the anemia and non-anemia samples were reported using absolute difference and effect size (ES). Certain demographics (e.g. age, sex, race, and geographic region) were controlled for using stratification matching methods. All analyses were adjusted to be nationally representative. RESULTS: A total of 39,735 adults were included in the study, of which 643 were reported to have anemia, corresponding to 1.42% of the adult U.S. population. The SF-12 physical scores, SF-12 mental scores, and EQ-5D index scores of anemia patients were 1.87, 5.63, and 0.10 lower than non-anemia people (1.87%, 5.63% and 10%; ES = 0.17, 0.45, and 0.32, respectively). The differences in all three HRQL scores are statistically significant (p<0.01) after adjusting for age, sex, race, and geographic location. CONCLUSION: Anemia is a serious condition that significantly reduces patients' physical and mental HRQL and overall health utility in the U.S.