So, Anything New in President's Health Care Speech?

In his much-hyped address before a joint session of Congress, President Obama didn't have many surprises up his sleeve, but he did explicitly incorporate a few new outside ideas to his plan in a clear bid to get support for his signature issue.

For the first time, the president said the legislation shouldn't cost more than $900 billion over 10 years, making it clear he has taken seriously all the warnings that Americans are particularly fearful of crossing the $1 trillion mark. After much back-and-forth over the past few months, Obama seemed to express support for the idea of taxing the most expensive health insurance policies, a move opposed by both insurers and labor unions. He also tried to reassure a skeptical public that he was serious about not increasing the federal deficit by vowing to include a measure that would require more spending cuts if the promised savings failed to materialize.

In what was seen as a particularly strong bid to gain support from Republicans and doctors, Obama also said his administration would begin pilot projects to test potential ways to decrease the number of medical malpractice cases. In addition, Obama mentioned Sen. John McCain by name when expressing support for his proposal to create a mechanism where people with pre-existing conditions could get coverage until the broader insurance exchange would be implemented. These two initiatives seem to make it clear that the administration is ready to make a familiar argument that "the final bill would be bipartisan not because it garners Republican votes but because it contains Republican ideas," notes the NYT.