Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter’s 77th Anniversary and What Home Hospice Means

After several short hospital stays, Jimmy Carter decided where he wanted to spend his remaining time. On February 18, 2023, the Carter Center announced that the former president, then 98, had chosen hospice at home with his family. His family and medical team supported the decision. The family asked for privacy, and the announcement didn’t name a diagnosis.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter reached their 77th wedding anniversary on July 7 that year. They’d married on the same date in 1946 in Plains, Georgia, the town they both called home. By the time the anniversary came around, he was receiving hospice care there.

Their marriage spanned his term as the 39th U.S. president, the creation of the Carter Center in 1982 and his Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. Rosalynn had her own long record in public health. She served as honorary chair of the President’s Commission on Mental Health and continued to speak up for better mental health care and for people caring for relatives.

The February statement gave the public a few facts about a decision many families face in private. It said where Jimmy wanted to be and what kind of care he’d chosen. It left out the day-to-day details of his care. For anyone trying to picture hospice at home, that leaves a practical question: who comes to the house, and what can they help with?

What hospice at home can mean

Hospice helps people stay as comfortable as possible near the end of life. At home, the patient and family work with the hospice team on a care plan. It can include medicine for pain and other symptoms, visits from nurses or aides and equipment the patient needs. The plan can change as the person’s needs change.

For Medicare to cover hospice, the patient needs Part A. The hospice doctor and the patient’s regular doctor, if they have one, must certify that the person is terminally ill and is expected to live six months or less. The patient signs a statement choosing hospice and accepts comfort care in place of treatment meant to cure the terminal illness or related conditions. The six months are an estimate. Coverage can continue beyond that if the hospice doctor recertifies eligibility.

If you’re trying to work out what care at home would look like, ask the hospice team how often someone will visit and who you can call if symptoms change overnight. It helps to know which tasks the team can handle and what your family may need to do between visits. Ask what support is available if the person’s needs change or a caregiver needs a break.

The Carter Center later announced that Rosalynn died at home in Plains on November 19, 2023, at 96. Jimmy died at home there on December 29, 2024, at 100. The July anniversary came before both losses, 77 years after they married in Plains.