The High Price of Care at Home

After a decades-long career coaching football and teaching history, Eicher-Beard’s husband required intensive rehabilitation. While Medicare provided initial support for hospital stays and therapy, coverage ended once his progress plateaued, leaving the family to bridge a significant financial gap. Private care is now essential; Eicher-Beard spends over $1,000 monthly on physical therapy alone, supplemented by certified nursing assistants who provide daily support.

For Eicher-Beard, this arrangement is a deliberate choice over assisted living facilities, which she believes fail to stimulate her husband’s intellectual interests in history and sports. By working full-time, she maintains the flexibility to keep him in a familiar environment where they can attend theater and university lectures. With her teaching certificate renewed through age 80, she views her career as a long-term necessity to sustain this independence and avoid the prohibitive costs of institutional memory care.