"Hands Off My Healthcare" Bus Tour Stops in El Dorado

It’s 8 A.M on Labor Day, but still people showed up to listen and sign petitions telling state lawmakers—hands off my healthcare. James Thomas is an El Dorado resident, he said, “I am a personal friend with my personal physician. We not only have a doctor/patient relationship but we travel together, vacation together, and raise kids together and when I got to his office, I don’t want a bureaucrat sitting next to him telling him how he can treat me.” Austin Ward, also of El Dorado, said, “The last person I want to have anything to do with my healthcare is the government. I work for them and I know how they operate.” Americans for Prosperity is a group who encourage Americans to make their voice heard. The team has traveled around the state asking residents to sign petitions that will later be delivered to state legislators. Teresa Oelke is the state director for Americans for Prosperity. She says the tour will end next month at the American Dream National Summit in Washington D.C. Oelke said, “We believe that patients and their loved ones make the best healthcare decisions for their family. We don’t believe that this will fix the healthcare system. We do believe in healthcare reform but a government takeover isn’t the way to go.” And El Dorado resident Becky Isbell says she’s been writing letters to congress to keep her family’s healthcare in their hands. Isbell said, “We got up at 6 AM this morning to come down here and we’re doing all we can to keep our country like it should be.” Thomas added, “I have enough things wrong with me—list of problems… etc… but I don’t want the government interfering in my life in any other way and especially with my healthcare and my children’s and grandchildren’s.”