OBJECTIVES: To better understand the human benefits of maintaining or enhancing health, more research is needed to assess the impact of health status on individuals' perceptions of their life satisfaction and quality of life. The purpose of this pilot study was to explore the relationship between health status and 1) satisfaction with life as a whole, and 2) overall quality of life. METHODS: A total of 314 participants were recruited from the general population of the Tucson Metropolitan Area to complete a touch screen computer-based questionnaire. The questionnaire included, among other items and scales, the EQ-5D and items assessing satisfaction with life in general (five-point scale from very dissatisfied to very satisfied) and overall quality of life (five-point scale from poor to excellent). Quadratic regression and ordered logit models were estimated to assess the potential impact of health status. RESULTS: The quadratic regression results suggest a curvilinear relationship between health status (EQ-VAS) and overall quality of life (ß-coefficients: ß1 = - 0.022 and ß2 = 0.004). Self-reported health status is positively related to quality of life, and health status is more influential when a person has better health. However, our estimates reject the quadratic relationship in favor of a linear relationship between health status and life satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the contribution of health status to quality of life is not constant across health. Health status may be a more important factor when person is healthy. However, the impact of health status on life satisfaction appears constant across levels of health. These findings confirm that satisfaction with life as a whole and overall quality of life are related but are measuring different constructs. This suggests that the perceived value of outcomes, as opposed to satisfaction with the outcomes, may depend on the health of the person affected.