WASHINGTON - Health care legislation backed by President Barack Obama all but cleared a major hurdle in the Senate early Friday as Democratic liberals and moderates on a key committee closed ranks behind the most sweeping set of changes in a half-century.

Obama hailed the developments in the Senate Finance Committee as a milestone, and said in a written statement, "we are now closer than ever before to finally passing reform that will offer security to those who have coverage and affordable insurance to those who don't."

The legislation is designed to spread health insurance to millions who now lack it, and cracks down on industry practices such as denying coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions...