Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is deflecting questions about federally subsidized health dollars that have flowed to her husband's mental health clinic.
As Bachmann, a Republican member of the U.S. House from Minnesota, tours the nation attacking the size of federal government, she has come under heightened scrutiny over public dollars flowing to family business interests. That includes $137,000 that Bachmann and Associates has received for treating patients in Medicaid-backed programs, NBC News and msnbc.com reported Tuesday.
Bachmann's press secretary, Alice Stewart, issued a statement Wednesday contending that it "would be discriminatory" for the clinic to turn away Medicaid patients. She said Marcus Bachmann's business had the responsibility to provide the care "regardless of a patient's financial situation."
Neither Michele nor Marcus Bachmann would respond to questions about the arrangement during a campaign stop in South Carolina.
