ORANGE PARK, Fla. -- At a town hall campaign event at St. Johns River Community College, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton's health care plan despite similarities to the one he passed in Massachusetts, saying Tuesday that he never said the state plan was good for the whole country.

In a speech the former governor delivered before taking questions from a crowd of 300, Romney blasted details of the plan Clinton announced the day before.

"Hillary Clinton just announced her health care plan, and it's exactly as you'd expect," he said. "I think when she hears that there are corporations making a profit, she shudders. She thinks, 'If we can just take that profit away, as the government could, then we would have a better product, a lower cost product.'"

Romney said that competition and profit incentive is what creates better health care. He went on to say Clinton would have a "one-size-fits-all answer. Instead of saying each state should create a plan, as I've proposed, she says 'Oh no! I know best. Washington knows best.'"

After the meeting, Romney was asked about similarities to the health care plan he passed as governor.

Clinton's plan requires every American to purchase insurance, either through their jobs or through a program modeled on Medicare or the federal employee health plan. Businesses would be required to offer insurance or contribute to a pool that would expand coverage. Individuals and small businesses would be offered tax credits to make insurance more affordable.

The Massachusetts plan requires the same individual insurance mandate as Clinton's and uses state subsidies to help reduce the cost of private coverage.

"I said when I first fought for my plan, that this was a plan for Massachusetts and I was asked almost from the very beginning, 'Would you apply this to the entire country" and I said 'No, no, no,'" Romney said. "I don't believe that one governor, or one candidate for president knows what's best for the entire country. Let the states craft their own plans matching the needs of their own citizens."

The "Ask Mitt Anything" appearance in Orange Park followed Romney's private fundraising luncheon in downtown Jacksonville.

Romney, the former one-term governor of Massachusetts, spoke at the Carlton Hotel with a crowd of about 120, some of whom admitted they just did not know much about the presidential hopeful.

"This was my first time to meet the candidate. I was impressed," said luncheon attendee Dick Brown. "The energy issues and the concern for illegal immigration were both -- he seemed to have a solid position on that."

"I just wasn't that educated. But he was most impressive. He said some things that just hit the nail on the head," said a woman who heard Romney speak.

"He also put the clear focus of homeland security on intervention and prevention through intelligence gathering, and that really hit home with me," said Sheriff John Rutherford.

The campaign Orange Park stop gave local voters an opportunity to pick Romney's brain about topics that impact their lives.

"My savings plan means that you won't have to pay taxes on your savings. We'll get more people saving their money and easier to afford college," Romney said in response the question of what he would do to help families pay for college.

Romney pledged to, if elected, end bi-partisan bickering on Capitol Hill.

"Democrats and Liberals love America and there is a disagreement amongst us sometimes on issues, but capable people can find common ground," Romney said.

Romney also said he is opposed to oil drilling in the Everglades, and that if he were elected, he would make the state's struggle with homeowner's insurance a top priority.