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Contra Costa County Decision To Restrict Care to Undocumented Immigrants Raises Concerns

Beginning in July, Contra Costa County will no longer provide nonemergency services to undocumented immigrants, making it the second California county to adopt such a policy.

Sacramento County also stopped providing nonemergency care to undocumented immigrants this year.

A California Healthline special report by Mina Kim on the move in Contra Costa County includes comments from:

  • Sonal Ambegaoker, a health policy attorney for the National Immigration Law Center;
  • Carmella Castellano-Garcia, president and CEO of the California Primary Care Association;
  • Neil Jayasekera, an emergency department physician at Contra Costa County Regional Medical Center; and
  • William Walker, director of the Contra Costa County health department.

Walker said a mounting budget deficit pushed the county to adopt the restriction, but Jayasekera and Castellano-Garcia say the cuts will simply push the costs to hospital emergency departments and community clinics (Kim, California Healthline, 4/9).

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