Recession cuts illegal aliens’ health care

Calif. county among 1st to take drastic step, deny non-emergency services

updated 12:05 p.m. PT, Sun., March. 15, 2009

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Graciela Barrios, an undocumented immigrant with few resources, has long relied on the county health clinic for the advice, medication and tests that have kept her diabetes under control.

But next month, Barrios and thousands like her will be on their own, and many more people across the nation face the same fate.

Bowing to recession-related budget pressures, Sacramento County recently took the drastic step of cutting non-emergency health services for illegal immigrants. Contra Costa County, on the east side of San Francisco Bay, will vote on a similar measure Tuesday.

Local health systems in other states are facing similar decisions as health officials find themselves trapped between dwindling federal, state and local funding streams and the growing number of newly uninsured who need services.

“The general situation there is being faced by nearly every health department across the country, and if not right now, shortly,â€