George,
I think what is happening with CEOs and the bailout is not entitlement. I do not think the Wall Street has any expectation of the government to give them something for nothing. It was up to Congress to decide if they got the money or not. Entitlement at the Wall Street level or CEO level would be if the brokers and other major financial people didn't go to work and still got paid these millions of dollars.
I do not want to guess what reimbursements your wife gets, but here not everyone sees Medicaid and Medicare. I do, and most Medicaid patients are doing the best they can, but there are some who do not. It is very difficult to be reimbursed 1/3 of what the supposedly terrible 3rd party payers are paying and still watch as those on government insurance go to the ER with an ear infection.
Why do my privately insured patients not go to the ER? Because their copay at my office is $20 while at the ER is more than $100. That is incentive for the patient to take responsibility and wait until the next day to see the doctor. Do you know how many times I see a patient and there are actually three, "because I was bringing patient A in, so I may as well bring in patients B and C.
Yes, the insurance companies are a problem, but when we fight back, the DOJ strikes us down. And, what happened on Wall Street is an entirely different thing than the overwhelming amount of welfare in this country. We are moving each day closer to be a socialist country. That is fine if that is what we want in this country.
If I lost my job today, my friends and family would take me in until I got back on my feet. Then I would go back out and earn my way. That is what we should be doing with social programs.
I apologize for my very simple minded approach to the problem. I am sure I am way off base.
