The purpose of this study was to shed light on the individual socioeconomic status and demographic determinants of the demand for health care in a cross-comparison study of nine European Union countries. It focuses on the effects of individual employment status on alternative indicators of demand for health care that constitutes a largely unexplored area. The evidence supports the existence of an employment status-demand for healthcare relationship, although it varies with respect to the type of health care examined and the institutional and environmental settings of the countries utilized in the study.