WASHINGTON, Nov 8: After a landmark win in the US House of Representatives, President Barack Obama’s push for healthcare reform faces a difficult path in the Senate amid divisions in his own Democratic Party on how to proceed.

On a 220-215 vote, including the support of one Republican and opposition from 39 Democrats, the House backed a bill late on Saturday that would expand coverage to nearly all Americans and bar insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.

The battle now shifts to the Senate, where work on Obama’s top domestic priority has been stalled for weeks as Democratic leader Harry Reid searches for an approach that can win the 60 votes he needs to overcome Republican procedural hurdles.

Democrats have no margin for error -- they control exactly 60 seats in the 100-member chamber. Some moderate Democrats have rebelled at Reid’s plan to include a new government-run insurance programme, known as the “public option”, in the bill.

Senator Joe Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, renewed his promise on Sunday to help Republicans block a final vote if the bill contains the government-run insurance option backed by Senate liberals.

“If the public option plan is in there, as a matter of conscience, I will not allow this bill to come to a final vote,” Lieberman said on “Fox News Sunday.”—Reuters
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