The 'news' made in the speech

On the policy front, President Obama tonight endorses, clearly and unambiguously, a requirement that everybody obtain insurance--that is, an individual mandate. He has not done that before, not this explicitly.

He also says employers will have to provide insurance or bear some of the costs. That's not news exactly; he's said that before. But it's part of the same package.

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Obama also endorses a proposal that the Senate Finance Committee has taken up. The proposal--which, as I recall, came from Senator John Kerry--would tax insurance companies when they provide expensive insurance policies. It's an indirect way of capping the tax exclusion on health benefits, something most economists believe can help slow down health spending.

Also of interest: A promise to provide low-cost, bare-bones policies right away--merely as a stopgap, until full reforms kick in. (This is an effort to make sure Americans see at least some benefits right away.) Elsewhere, Obama talks about malpractice reform--again, more explicitly than he has before, presenting it as an effort to reach across the aisle.