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.
Hampton is an independent city in Virginia, and therefore not part of any Virginia county. As one of the seven major cities that comprise the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, bordering on Hampton Roads harbor and the Chesapeake Bay. It is the sixth most populous city in Virginia, the most populous settlement with the name, and one of the oldest cities in the United States, tracing its history to the year 1610. As of the 2000 U.S. census, the city population was 146,437, but the census estimate for 2005 showed that the city's population was down slightly to 145,579. Hampton hosts Fort Monroe, Langley Air Force Base, NASA Langley Research Center, the Virginia Air and Space Center, historic Hampton University and features a wide array of business and industrial enterprises, retail and residential areas, historical sites, and miles of waterfront and beaches.