Health care law encompasses the laws and regulations governing hospital and health care administration, and an understanding of health care insurance is integral to it. There are significant differences in the types and amount of coverage provided by various private insurance policies, such as HMOs, PPOs, disability insurance, and hospital indemnity insurance, just as there are important differences in the cost to the purchasers of health insurance. There are also public health care insurance programs. Elderly and disabled persons may be eligible for coverage through the federal Medicare program. The joint state-federal Medicaid program helps certain individuals, including disabled persons and low-income elderly persons, pay for long-term care and in-home health care.
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. It is the county seat, and the home to the seat of Rutgers University. The city is located on the Northeast Corridor rail line, 31 miles (50 km) southwest of New York City, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. The 2006 United States Census Bureau population estimate of New Brunswick was 50,172. The city is also known by the local nickname "Hub City," and has been promoted as "the Healthcare City", the former reflecting its status as a major urban center of Central Jersey, serviced by many railroads during the nineteenth century, and the latter due to the concentration of medical facilities, including Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Saint Peter's University Hospital, as well as the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The corporate offices or production facilities of several large pharmaceutical companies are also within city limits. New Brunswick was formed by Royal Charter on December 30, 1730, within other townships in Middlesex County and Somerset County and was reformed by Royal Charter with the same boundaries on February 12, 1763, at which time it was divided into north and south wards. New Brunswick was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 1, 1784. New Brunswick is noted for its rich ethnic heritage. At one time, one quarter of the Hungarian population in New Jersey resided in the city. Today, much of that Hungarian community continues to thrive as well as a growing Hispanic community that has developed around French Street past Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital.