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Miller, 35, a former Marine captain, is running for South Carolina's 2nd District seat against incumbent Republican U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson for the second time. Wilson defeated Miller in 2008 with 54 percent of the vote.
Miller told attendees he supports health care reform and wants to see a bipartisan bill by the end of the year, one that wouldn't "break the bank." Miller said after the meeting he wanted to wait until the final legislation was crafted before commenting on the bill.
"We're paying for the uninsured now because the insurance industry is bumping your rates up," Miller told the crowd at the Golf Club at Indigo Run on Hilton Head Island. "We have to do something with those who aren't insured -- it's the health of our nation."
Two events -- the death of his father when Miller was 14 and his own son's recovery from meningitis -- have given the Lady's Island small-business owner different perspectives on health care, he said. Miller and his wife run a Web-based store for military memorabilia.
"Before my dad died, I saw my mom stressing as the medical bills piled up. I got a job washing dishes to help pay them," Miller said. "And nothing confirmed my faith in our nation's health care more than my son's illness.But we must have competition in the market."
Wilson's "you lie" outburst during President Barack Obama's address to Congress in September attracted national attention and record fundraising to this race, according to the McClatchy-Tribune News Service. The two candidates combined have raised about $6 million, according to news reports.
On Tuesday, Miller didn't specifically address Wilson's outburst.
Miller did say, "My opponent has simply lost touch. He's too focused on chasing national fame."
Miller left the meeting quickly, and in a conference-call interview afterward, his campaign manager, Lindsay Zoeller, limited the reporter to about 10 minutes.
Miller, who left the Marine Corps in 2008 to start his first campaign, has held few public events and has been accused of kicking a Columbia television news crew out of a Feb. 18 speech to a group of Democrats.
"I want to make it clear that I never kicked anyone out of an event," Miller said after Tuesday's meeting. "Apparently, there was some kind of communication issue between their staff and my staff. I'm not sure specifically what happened, but there wasn't any harm meant."
Zoeller said campaign organizers haven't done any polling but said that Miller's supporters in the 2nd District cross party lines. Miller said he plans to meet with local business and community leaders, possibly during a small-business tour later in the campaign, and will pursue aggressive fundraising tactics.
"Our campaign, from the beginning, has been focused on starting from the ground up," he told supporters. "We need to put politics aside and focus on creating solutions to fix the economy, our failing infrastructure and our schools."
