U.S. Rep. Todd Platts, R-York County, voted against the health care reform bill that narrowly passed in the House on Saturday. Mike Johnson, chairman of the York County Democratic Party, was all for it.

Yet both are acutely aware that it isn't a done deal until it gets through the Senate -- which makes it very far from a done deal indeed.

"I guess we're halfway there," Johnson said. "There's a long way to go yet, frankly. A lot of folks feel like this could go on to the end of the year."

Johnson said some local Democrats have been volunteering on phone banks, urging people to support the reform plan.

Yet even among Democrats, the plan isn't universally supported. In the House, 39 Democrats voted against it.

Similar differences of opinion exist among local Democrats, Johnson said. As in Congress, the public option for insurance is proving to be the most divisive issue, Johnson said.

He considers some other controversies that have cropped up around the plan -- care for illegal immigrants and abortion funding -- to be relatively minor side issues blown out of proportion to stir up opposition.

Regardless of how it fares in the Senate, Johnson is surprised legislation of that magnitude made it through the House.

"It's so comprehensive and wide-ranging," he said. "I think it's amazing we've been able to get the consensus we have. It's amazing to think we could end up 10 years from now with basically everyone in this country fully covered."

Platts said Sunday

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that he was against it for a number of reasons. One reason, he said, is because it's tantamount to a violation of the physician's guiding principle: "First, do no harm."

Among his objections are the approved plan's projected cost of more than $1 trillion over 10 years, and its provisions that would raise taxes on small businesses and other employers and cut Medicare spending by more than $400 billion over 10 years.

He said he joined with other Republicans in supporting an alternative plan that would include elements allowing small businesses to band together to negotiate insurance coverage for their employees, and letting individuals purchase insurance across state lines from a competitive, national market.

"The majority of people have made it clear that, while we all support health care reform, we should be targeted on the parts of health care that are broken, and not break the part that's working for millions of Americans," Platts said.

At a glance

Some provisions of the bill passed in the House on Saturday would:

--- Prohibit insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing medical conditions.

--- Require most Americans to get health insurance or pay a fine.

--- End premium disparities between men and women.