McCauley v. Department of Revenue

Plaintiff appeals from a decision of the circuit court affirming an institutional reimbursement order issued by the Department of Revenue. The issue is whether the Department’s right to reimbursement for the cost of institutionalization in a state facility is limited to the current income of the institutionalized person.

Plaintiff, a 70-year-old widow who suffers from a variety of physical and mental disorders, has been hospitalized at the Oregon State Hospital since 1967. There is little or no possibility that she will be released. The cost of plaintiffs care was paid by her daughter through…