Health care financing system and method

A computer-based system for determining eligibility of a patient to receive health care financial assistance, the system comprising:

• a computer server;
• a computer memory having computer-executable code instructions stored therein comprising:
• first code instructions for receiving patient data;
• second code instructions for comparing at least a portion of the patient data to qualification criteria for each of a plurality of health care financial assistance plans stored in a database within the memory, each of the plurality of health care financial assistance plans offering defrayment of at least a portion of a health care expense incurred by the patient if the patient qualifies for the respective health care financial assistance plan;
• third code instructions for determining if the comparison satisfies the qualification criteria for at least one of the plurality of health care financial assistance plans;
• and
• fourth code instructions for providing notification of eligibility for every one of the plurality of health care financial assistance plans in which the comparison satisfied the qualification criteria.

A method in a computer system having a computer server processor and a computer memory for determining eligibility of a patient to receive health care financial assistance, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving at the computer server processor, over a communication network from a plurality of client machines, health care financial assistance information, including qualification criteria, for each of a plurality of health care financial assistance plans, each of the plurality of health care financial assistance plans offering defrayment of at least a portion of a health care expense incurred by the patient if the patient qualifies for the respective health care financial assistance plan;
• storing the health care financial assistance information in a database within the memory;
• receiving at the computer server processor, over a communication network from a client machine, patient data;
• comparing using the computer server processor at least a portion of the patient data to qualification criteria for each of a plurality of health care financial assistance plans stored in the database within the memory;
• determining using the computer server processor if the comparison satisfies the qualification criteria for at least one of the plurality of health care financial assistance plans;
• and
• transmitting from the computer server processor notification of eligibility for every one of the plurality of health care financial assistance plans in which the comparison satisfied the qualification criteria.