Hungry for health care reform

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PINE LEVEL - A group of constituents gathered around plates of biscuits and eggs this morning to tell U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge that they want a national health insurance plan.

Grover Creech, a retired pharmacist from Smithfield, told Etheridge that the government must end a system in which people pay wildly different prices for the same treatments, reports Kristin Collins.

"Only the federal government can equalize this," Creech said at a meeting of the Johnston County Democratic Men's Club. "We're looking for the federal government to rescue us."

The meeting was open to the public. However, the protestors who lined St. Mary’s Street in Raleigh Friday to heckle Democratic U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh, who supports the current health care proposal, were absent.

Etheridge’s meeting remained calm and orderly, in contrast to other Democratic congressmen’s appearances across the country this month. Many have been disrupted by shouting critics and angry confrontations.

http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/a_breakfast_for_reform