Isikoff: Bachmann's husband got $137,000 in Medicaid funds
Looks like some more bad news for the Bachmann presidential campaign -- Bachmann's husband got $137,000 in Medicaid funds:
While Rep. Michele Bachmann has forcefully denounced the Medicaid program for swelling the "welfare rolls," the mental health clinic run by her husband has been collecting annual Medicaid payments totaling over $137,000 for the treatment of patients since 2005, according to new figures obtained by NBC News.
The previously unreported payments are on top of the $24,000 in federal and state funds that Bachmann & Associates, the clinic founded by Marcus Bachmann, a clinical therapist, received in recent years under a state grant to train its employees, state records show. The figures were provided to NBC News in response to a Freedom of Information request.
The clinic, based in Lake Elmo, Minn., describes itself on its website as offering "quality Christian counseling" for a large number of mental health problems ranging from "anger management" to addictions and eating disorders.
The $161,000 in payments from the Minnesota Department of Human Services to her husband's clinic appear to contradict some of Michelle Bachmann's public accounts this week when she was first asked about the extent to which her family has benefited from government aid. Contacted this afternoon, Alice Stewart, a spokeswoman for Bachmann, said the congresswoman was doing campaign events and was not immediately available for comment.
Questions about the Bachmann family's receipt of government funds arose this week after a Los Angeles Times story reported that a family farm in which Michelle Bachmann is a partner had received nearly $260,000 in federal farm subsidies.
When asked by anchor Chris Wallace on "Fox News Sunday" about the story's assertion that her husband's counseling clinic had also gotten federal and state funds, Bachmann replied that it was "one-time training money that came from the federal government. And it certainly didn't help our clinic."
At another point, she said, "My husband and I did not get the money," adding that it was "mental health training money that went to the employees."
But state records show that Bachmann & Associates has been collecting payments under the Minnesota's Medicaid program every year for the past six years. Karen Smigielski, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services, said the state's Medicaid program is funded "about 50-50" with federal and state monies. The funds to Bachmann & Associates are for the treatment of low-income mentally ill patients and are based on a "fee for service" basis, meaning the clinic was reimbursed by Medicaid for the services it provided. Read on...
And keep in mind that this clinic of his is reportedly one where they "pray away the gay" as TPM wrote about back in '06 -- MN-06: Does GOPer Bachmann's Husband "Ungay" Homosexuals?:
Does GOP House candidate Michelle Bachman's husband "ungay" homosexuals as part of his therapy practice? That's the charge made in a new profile of Bachmann published Wednesday in the Minneapolis City Pages. "Some observers claim that the mission of the practice includes counseling homosexuals in an effort to "ungay" them," the paper says. Marcus Bachmann denies it. But the paper also describes a conference where Marcus Bachmann gave a presentation called "The Truth About the Homosexual Agenda," in which he presented three "ungayed" individuals whom he held up as proof that homosexuality can be "cured." More after the jump.
In the piece, a local gay man named Curt Prins describes the conference and the scene where Bachmann gave his presentation:
[...]
The climax of the presentation was when, according to Prins, Bachmann brought up "three ex-gays, like part of a PowerPoint presentation." The trio, two white men and a black woman, all testified that they had renounced their homosexuality. "One of them said, 'If I was born gay, then I'll have to be born again,'" Prins recalls. "The crowd went crazy."
Fact Check has more on Bachmann's recent "slew of off-base claims" which is a polite term for lies -- Bachmann’s Waterloo:
The GOP lawmaker's presidential campaign starts with a slew of off-base claims.
Summary
Rep. Michele Bachmann officially joined the presidential campaign trail, but made a flurry of false and misleading claims along the way.
The Minnesota Republican appeared on two Sunday talk shows the day before giving her formal announcement speech in Waterloo, Iowa. On the shows, she made false statements about income from her family farm and government subsidies to her husband's business. She also made misstatements regarding earmarks, federal pay, government-owned "limousines" and health care:
- Bachmann falsely claimed that she and her husband "have never gotten a penny" from a family farm that received federal subsidies. But she reported income from the farm in 2006, 2008 and 2009 — the most recent year available — on her congressional financial disclosure statements.
- She claimed she had been "faithful" to her pledge not to request federal earmarks. But she requested $40 million in transportation earmarks in the 2009 fiscal year budget after taking the pledge, later claiming such projects should not be subjected to her promise. She withdrew her requests after the House Republicans took a party position in 2010 not to seek earmarks.
- Bachmann wrongly blamed President Obama for increasing the number of federal transportation workers who earn more than $170,000 from one to 1,690 during the recession. At least two-thirds of those employees were receiving more than $170,000 before Obama took office.
- She criticized the president for a 73 percent increase in government "limousines." But one department accounted for the increase, and it had a long-term plan, pre-dating Obama, to add armored vehicles. The term "limousine" includes armored vehicles and sedans, not just actual limos.
- She claimed government money received by her husband's counseling clinics did not benefit the business, because the funds paid for employee training. It's true the clinics received $24,041 for training, but the business received thousands more in government funds, including money for treating crime victims.
- The three-term congresswoman repeated — on two Sunday shows — the false claim that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said the federal health care law will "cost the economy 800,000 jobs." The CBO never said that. It said there will be a "small" impact on jobs.
When she got to Waterloo to deliver her first official campaign speech, Bachmann made her now viral gaffe in saying that tough-guy actor John Wayne was from Waterloo, Iowa. The Duke was born in Winterset, Iowa, and was raised in California. It was John Wayne Gacy, the serial killer, who was from Waterloo.
Lots more details there following up on their summary, so go read the rest.
He is a Christian, after all. They and the Jews are somehow entitled to government subsidies while the rest of us heathens are not!
well said,bachman has got a taste of how easy it is to milk the government,and now we really know why she want to be prez,and you are surely correct as to who gets the largest subsidies,and it ain't us heathens
Marcus Bachmann's "Christian counseling" can "un-gay" gay people? I'd better move to Minnesota and make an appointment - at last, someone who may be able to "un-bald," "un-short," and "un-nearsight" me. Huzzah!
it's quality christian counseling(tm)
That must have been some enlarged prostate.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
Core Christian Principles, or Christian Core Probing?
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
the money was used to train clinic personnel in how to turn away Medicaid patients while blaming it all on Obama.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
I hope some of that Mental health money went for therapy for that batsh!t crazy woman
on his competence. Can't be good for advertising.
Anger Management
Scared Straight
Bull-lemia
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
help him in trying to scare someone straight?
it doesn't sound like he professes to cure nasty-lying-bitch syndrome...
I am suggesting he is an example of "therapist, heal thyself."
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Not only that but a bunch of $$$ for pop-in-law's farm, and what I am sure is thousands upon thousands for all those foster kids that she is trying to exploit now as some good deed.
Truly, she has received her reward.
Harry Chapin wants you.
for a HHS mystery shopping visit.
"Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party."
Joe Biden
Gov't funding for faith healing? Talk about your Road to Nowhere.
Bwahahahahahaha .... just keep prayin the gay away.
Another GOP hypocrite, decrying "welfare" for everybody else, so they can have all the "welfare" for themselves.
Just like their boomer Teabircher followers; SS and Medicare for me, but not for thee.
If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.
if your neighbor gets it. If you get it, it's deserved.
F*in' hypocrites!
Both Bachmann's are bat shit crazy and liars. I know people give her all this credit for having all these kids and foster kids but it seems to me like she did it to build some kind of Christian Army. Behind raised by one crazy Bachmann is bad enough but can you imagine how her kids are turning out. Frightening.
is intended to be a factual statement
promised to get it under 8%. Waaaaah!
Janek
They received and spent money that did not benefit the clinic? What terrible business people they are. That and the almost half mil in tax dollars seems to say they are either floundering or riding high on the hog.
...oh wait, there isn't one is there? For surely if there was, those liberally-biased media talking heads would be shouting this from the raft....oh yeah, IOKIYAR, so most of America won't know one thing she said that was wrong. she and her husband are good ixtians after all; they wouldn't take advantage now would they? Oh yeah, that's exactly what they did.
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
She's probably right.
Bachmann is not intelligent enough to know that she is not very intelligent.
She seems to think she's brilliant. She thinks she speaks common sense, and that she has access to truths about the universe unavailable to people who are not members of her particular cult. She is a very dangerous woman, and there are a lot of voters who think just like her.
Everyone is equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Wasn't that once self evident?
because it meant that employees who showed up for work that day(s) of training were paid from the government dole, and not out of the Bachmann & Asso. payroll.
And Bachmann & Asso. additionally profited from that $24K govt money because the training helped the employees do better, more skilled work - maybe even with a training credential added to each trainee's job title - that Bachmann & Asso. could turn around and charge clients more money for.
Anyone who genuinely wants to tend to her mental health should avoid religious counseling.
And this is not stated as one of my typical rants against religion in general. Even if you are religious, you should see a real doctor. You want someone educated in mental health who will not bring her subjective religious judgments into the equation.
Everyone is equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Wasn't that once self evident?
She also claimed the original 30,000 dollars went to train her staff so her company didn't profit from it, the employees did. Huh? Isn't training your staff a cost of doing business? And isn't having someone else pay the bill to train your employees profiting your companies' bottom line? Of course it is. What bizarre logic.
it's like saying that the food stamps i get every month don't benefit me because they are for feeding my children.
Three? Really? Wow. Isn't it something like 2% of the US population homosexual? That's what, well over 5 million people? And you cured three? Incredible! Please provide a link to your published, peer-reviewed study. What an f'in joke. These people make me physically ill.
I've seen some stuff, man. And some thangs...
I love this comment on juanitajean.com:
You know what worries me even more than that?” Juanita asks. “That the dude runs a mental health clinic and he lets his wife roam the streets.”
Welfare Queen.
She is everything that she professes to loath. How does Bachmann get up every morning with a smile on her face?
'Talk to the hand'
.
Must be true.
'Talk to the hand'
This clinic advertises itself as providing "quality Christian counseling????"
Well, that says it all. A clinic that thinks it can cure mental illness with religion. Jesus H and F Christ.....this annoys the hell out of me.
More proof of Bachmann is a far right religious kook, nut, flake, and fruitloop.
Will WI Supreme Court Judge Prosser be going there for anger management counseling?
I'm no fan of Bachman. . .she can't get information straight, doesn't know her history; talks a good talk but where she gets the information is anybody's guess. I just know that she is consistently wrong and that is not Presidential material in my book. She's a good complainer though.
Her husband, however, is actually doing a good thing by accepting Medicaid patients. He is benefiting but not as much as you think. MSNBC is off the mark. Does anybody realized how many doctors won't accept Medicaid? Medicaid does not reimburse for the full cost of treatment. His patients are benefiting, low-income people who otherwise would not get treated for their mental problems.
My daughter could not find anyone to set her 10-year-old son's broken arm because the Grand Rapids, Michigan area had no orthopedist who would accept Medicaid. The hospital took x-rays, diagnosed the broken arm and turned them away. This was 1-1/2 years ago. They found someone very, very far away. A real inconvenience for somebody who drives a junk car and not much money for gasoline.
He did benefit from the grant for employee training. However, if he is already accepting less by treating patients who are on Medicaid, the least the government can do is give him money to train her workers.
broken arm =/= curing 'teh gay'
So she and her husband are benefiting from ag subsidies and Medicaid to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. And nobody is calling her out on it in these recent interviews? Come on, MSM -- tell the truth about this lying weasel.
What about her letter to Vilsack gushing about how important those socialist checks have been to her constituents? That is classic hypocrisy.
Sarah Palin is watching this at home in the "Meth Capitol of the World", and thinking, 'you know I could be on the news tonite saying things that I know are true and the Lame Stream Media would be makin things up about me, Darn Tootin'. Now those are fair questions they're asking Michele but they only ask me "Gotcha questions", shucky darn. Trigg, pass the funyons. Hey Chin get in here and watch em give it to Michele. Ha ha, for cripes sake. I'll wait till her moose is cooked and then I'll make like dancing with the stars and win the nomination, good gosh almighty. You just watch I'm a Mama Grizzly. Grrrr. Chin would you mind changin Trigg?
To be fair--when you take Medicaid patients and treat Medicaid patients--you don't make money doing this. It's almost a community service. Medicaid pays less than what the services run and nursing homes and clinics that treat a lot of Medicaid patients often go bankrupt.
But--I am getting tired of listening to Michelle B talking about the fact that she wants to cut back on spending. It's a broken record. I don't want to hear of it again. My vote goes to the candidate willing to discuss how they plan to create jobs and what role they think government has in creating jobs. It's ok to talk about other things sometimes. But, jobs has to be the first and primary discussion. Michelle doesn't talk about jobs. She talks about Obama's limosines! The media have thrown "gotcha" questions at her. That's true. But, she does a poor job of dealing with the gotchas. So--we need a candidate willing to talk about job first and foremost and we need a candidate capable of handling "gotcha" questions professionally and tactfully.
Our tax dollars hard at work.
Jeanne
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