WRAPUP 3-U.S. healthcare measure faces tough path in Senate

(For full coverage of U.S. healthcare reform, click [nN20512341])

* Narrow House win shifts healthcare battle to US Senate

* Health bill faces tough Senate path to passage

* Critics promise renewed fight to block bill (Adds Obama comments, paragraph 4)

By John Whitesides

WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - After a landmark win in the U.S. 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.

"Take this baton and bring this effort to the finish line," Obama urged senators on Sunday in an appearance at the White House, saying passage of healthcare reform would represent "their finest moment in public service."