Assistant produce manager Cathy Montgomery says she likes that the president is getting tough with Congress.
Phil Younce, a frozen food clerk at the Bristol store, fears health reform is being rushed, just like the stimulus.
"Like the last package that we pushed through, I think it was too hurried, and a lot of mistakes, a lot of things that shouldn't be," said Younce, who voted for Republican candidate John McCain in the presidential election.
But assistant produce manager Cathy Montgomery voted for Obama, and she's pumped he's getting tough with Congress.
"I like the fact that he's stepped up, and he's being aggressive, I really do. I mean, I'm all for that," she said.
Obama's health care stop in Bristol is the second of two town hall meetings Wednesday. He also has an event scheduled at a high school in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Bristol, which is near the Tennessee border, is also where Obama kicked off his general election campaign after defeating Hillary Clinton in the primaries.
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Thousands in the area showed up at a health expo offering free medical care over the weekend, exposing a problem all too familiar to doctors in the region.
"Clearly, we all recognize -- any physician in the hospital would recognize -- that it's a system in crisis," said Dr. Bennett Cowan.
But like most employees at the Kroger supermarket, produce manager Steve Shipplett gets generous health benefits.
Even though he voted for Obama, he's nervous those benefits may be taxed to cover the uninsured, and he's demanding more specifics from the president.
"He's going to have to spit out some numbers and let the public know exactly what it's going to cost them and what they're going to have to give up," he said.
Shipplett says if the president steps up and sells his plan, then he's willing to step up, too.
"We've got to do something, and if it means me paying these taxes to get this reform through I would begrudgingly do it, yes," he said.
And back in the frozen food aisle, Younce is ready to do his share, too.
"No matter what kind of plan you are going to come up with, somebody has to pay for it. So eventually, it comes down to us -- the people that's working and paying taxes. We're going to have to pay for it one way or another. I just hope we can come up with a plan that is worth paying for," he said.
After more than six hours of negotiations, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, House Democratic leaders, the fiscally conservative Blue Dog Democrats and other lawmakers emerged Tuesday night without a deal on health care reform.
Those in the talks said they were making progress, but the Blue Dogs argue that the health care bill will cost too much without fixing the ailing health care system. 
Interactive: Sticking points of the health care debate »
CNN on Wednesday obtained an e-mail from a top aide of Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus -- a message that aims to debunk a Washington Post headline that negotiators are close to a deal.
"While progress has been made in recent days, neither an accord nor an announcement is imminent," wrote Russ Sullivan, Democratic staff director for the committee. "In fact, significant policy issues remain to be discussed among the Members, and any one of these issues could preclude bipartisan agreement."
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