Report: Healthcare consulting group founded by Gingrich files for bankruptcy

The healthcare consulting group founded by Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Wednesday according to court documents obtained by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. 

Gingrich stepped down from his leadership position with the Center for Health Transformation when he began his 2012 presidential campaign. According to the filing, the firm estimates liabilities between $1 million and $10 million despite assets below $100,000 and says it will be unable to pay its dozens of unsecured creditors.

The bankruptcy will likely deal another damaging blow to Gingrich's already struggling presidential campaign. The former House Speaker has not won a primary contest since his home state of Georgia on Super Tuesday, and he announced last week that he would lay off a third of his campaign staff and substantially scale back his campaign activities.

Under Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the center's assets will be liquidated and the business will likely close to repay creditors. 

It's not the first time the Center for Health Transformation has served as a campaign liability for Gingrich. In January, Gingrich's Republican opponents hammered the former Speaker for his consulting contract — secured under the center's previous name, the Gingrich Group — with troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac. They suggested Gingrich was hired to lobby his former congressional colleagues.

While Gingrich strongly denied he was a lobbyist, payments to the firm in the hundreds of thousands of dollars provided ammunition for a series of biting campaign advertisements. Adding to the political damage was the group's initial reluctance to turn over the contract between the group and Gingrich, which showed Freddie Mac paid Gingrich at least $1.6 million over a period of eight years.

In its later iteration, the center counted major health insurance and technology companies — including BlueCross BlueShield, UnitedHealth, and IBM — among its clients. But the center again proved a campaign detriment when audio of Gingrich promoting the individual healthcare mandate during a call with clients surfaced. 

Slideshows posted to the group's website also promoted the mandate, which is the central issue in challenges to the president's signature legislation. A ruling by the Supreme Court on the law's constitutionality is expected in June.

Gingrich has since said that he opposed the individual mandate. The Gingrich campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the Center for Health Transformation's bankruptcy filing.

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