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.
Pineola is an unincorporated community in Avery County, North Carolina; generally spanning out in a three mile radius from the intersection of US highway US 221 and NC 181. The area was originally known as "Saginaw" until the early 20th century. Pineola is the site of several businesses including an asphalt plant, a concrete plant, a sawmill, and a small hotel. The Linville River flows through the area, and is impounded by a dam into a small lake for a resort community. The Blue Ridge Parkway passes through the southeast portion of the area. During the early 1900s it was notably the site of a large logging operation and sawmill, owned by the W.M. Ritter Company. The East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad ("Tweetsie") operated into the community until 1939, when it received permission, by the Interstate Commerce Commission, to abandon Pineola.