Packed rooms greeted — and, occasionally, booed — U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan at two Kenosha County listening sessions Tuesday.

Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, is holding a series of district listening sessions as a national debate rages over health care reform.

Crowds in Kenosha and Paddock Lake seized on the issue, discussing it almost exclusively in what were technically free-wheeling town halls to discuss any federal concerns.

About 400 people filled the Madrigrano Auditorium at Gateway Technical College, while some were turned away from a capacity crowd of 92 people in Paddock Lake. Some attendees there watched and listened from the Village Hall lawn, peering in through open windows.

Unlike sessions in other parts of the country, where crowds have become combative, Tuesday’s meetings were largely civil affairs with crowds — particularly in Paddock Lake — that tilted toward Ryan’s views.

“I don’t think anybody should expect free insurance in this country,” Kenosha resident Mike Malmberg said, drawing applause at the Gateway meeting.

Ryan said he believes the current system is broken and in need of reform. He said he does not, however, agree with Democrats’ proposals to create a system with a government-run “public option” alternative to privately managed care — a move Ryan said would soon make the private sector uncompetitive.

“Within about three or four years, the public option becomes really the public-sector monopoly,” Ryan said.

Ryan said the congressional Democrats’ bill would add billions to the nation’s deficit and tax individuals and businesses further, while placing a government review panel between patients and their doctors.

As for frequent Republican charges that the Democrats’ plan would institute rationing of care, Ryan said “ration” has become a loaded term for members of both parties.

Ryan said he doubts Democrats want to ration care, but he believes it is a definite outcome if their plan becomes law.

The congressman used the sessions to tout his reform alternative, called the Patients Choice Act, which would alter the system within the framework of the current private-sector insurance model.

While Ryan bemoaned the costs of the Democratic plan, Steve Herr, a 2006 Democratic primary candidate for Ryan’s seat, told Ryan he spends about 15 percent of his small business’ fixed monthly expenses on health insurance for himself and his employees.

Herr said the United States spends about 15 percent of its gross domestic product on health care, a figure that drops to about 10 percent in other nations with universal care.

“In effect, our current health care system, particularly the insurance companies, are nothing but a 5 percent anchor” on the economy, Herr said.

While applause outweighed boos at the meetings, there were a few moments in which Ryan stopped to remind audience members to respect one anothers’ views.

One such incident occurred when Pleasant Prairie resident Liz Whitlock told Ryan she is a teacher who “doesn’t make the big money,” stirring jeers from some in the crowd.

“I do have excellent health care, I’ll tell you that” Whitlock responded. “But I’d be willing to pay an extra 1 or 2 percent, or I’d even go up to 3 percent, to insure everybody.”

Ryan said he believes those like Whitlock, who have public-sector, union-negotiated health plans, should fear the Democrats’ package the most, as their benefits are likely to revert to the less generous public option.

Kenosha resident Kent Peters urged for some middle ground in the health care debate.

Peters — who said he spends about 40 percent of his income buying coverage through the state’s high-risk pool, and added he is willing to continue to do so — said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s “take-it-or-leave-it approach” is driving a wedge through her party and the entire nation.

“Where is the voice of moderation and compromise?” Peters asked.