Saul Friedman -- Newsday.com

Saul Friedman

Gray Matters

Memorable Independence Days, both high and low

July 4, 2009

My newspapering days, when I chased around with presidents, enabled me to celebrate Independence Day in some interesting places. But one of the most uninteresting was one of the best.

Recent columns

Little-known benefit can help vets, and spouses, with assisted living

June 27, 2009

Here is some old but good news for veterans of modest means who were in service during wartime and need medical and nursing care.
The elderly: financially exploited by families

June 20, 2009

The letter from a desperate woman has remained in my mind for years.
Is United HealthCare looking out for the patient?

June 10, 2009

When I was diagnosed with esophageal cancer four years ago, my first thought was to find the best surgeon and hospital in the country.
D-Day 65 years ago: I remember

June 7, 2009

None of us should let this day pass without giving it thought and remembrance.
D-Day 65 years ago: I remember

June 4, 2009

None of us should let this day pass without giving it thought and remembrance.
Social Security: Two years with no COLA

May 28, 2009

On Social Security, first things first:
What will universal health care look like?

May 21, 2009

If you're wondering what's going on with health care reform, you're not alone. The Democratic Congress and the Obama administration seem poised to give the nation some form of universal health insurance, but no one seems to know whether or when it will happen or what it would look like.
Letters to Saul Friedman

May 15, 2009

This one's for you - for readers who thought enough of what I said, for good or ill, to write. And there's a story in almost every message.
Saul Friedman: Get checked for hearing loss

May 7, 2009

Chances are you've never heard of
Long-term care: Still broken after all these years

May 2, 2009

Picking up from last week, I can't count the number of columns I've written about the critical need for a rational national policy for long-term care. But little has changed in more than a dozen years.
Long-term care: Still broken after all these years

April 30, 2009

Picking up from last week, I can't count the number of columns I've written about the critical need for a rational national policy for long-term care. But little has changed in more than a dozen years.
Long-term care for elderly should be U.S. priority

April 25, 2009

How to prepare for the long-term care of the huge and long-lived boomer generation has been the subject of recent studies and congressional hearings. But less attention is being paid to the problems, here and now, for the very old who worry that they may have lived too long.
Single-payer health care plan isn't socialism

April 17, 2009

I was surprised during a recent conference for care- givers when several professionals, who should have known better, asked me if a "single-payer" health insurance system is "socialized medicine."
Why I've stayed married for 57 years

April 11, 2009

'Who knew we'd get this far?"
Congress can help seniors who lost investments

April 4, 2009

The House Education and Labor Committee, chaired by California Rep. George Miller, has done a fine job pointing to the financial problems facing workers nearing retirement and possible solutions. And Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel of New York leaped to pass a 90 percent tax on the bonuses of AIG executives, which the White House has qualms about.
Let's change Medicare into a plan for the ages

October 2, 2004

It's time Gray Matters put up or shut up, instead of merely complaining about what passes for the American health care system. And if one day we get a responsive president and Congress, what is a realistic alternative to the nation's dependence for its health care on the private health insurance business?