Sequestration cuts are affecting Medicare — though not as much as some other programs — and as Sarah Kliff explained, cancer clinics really are turning away thousands of patients as a result of the Republican spending cuts.

Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially.

Patients at these clinics would need to seek treatment elsewhere, such as at hospitals that might not have the capacity to accommodate them.

In a desperate move to cut enrollment and save hundreds of millions of dollars, Cal State East Bay and all CSU campuses have canceled spring admissions, in 2013. It’s just the first of several cost cutting measures trustees will make to close a $500 million budget gap and plan for another $200 million in potential cuts due to declines in state funding.