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.
Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota, the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. Its population was 55,532 at the 2000 census. Its metropolitan population was 94,719 in 2000, but was estimated in 2008 to have grown to 104,944. Bismarck was founded in 1872 and has been North Dakota's capital since it gained statehood in 1889. Bismarck is situated on the east bank of the Missouri River, directly across the river from Mandan. The two cities make up the core of the Bismarck-Mandan Metropolitan Statistical Area The North Dakota State Capitol, the tallest building in the state, towers over the central part of Bismarck. The state government employs many people in the city. As a hub of manufacturing, retail, and health care, Bismarck is the economic center of a large portion of south-central North Dakota and north-central South Dakota.