The new message: It's Health INSURANCE reform. Yes, it is.

First Read reports that there's a change in messaging in the debate about reform -- it's health insurance reform. It always has been about the insurance companies. It's about time the White House figured it out:

In fact, the White House is now talking about health INSURANCE reform, not health CARE reform. As an administration spokesperson emails NBC News, “At events in North Carolina and Virginia today, the president will lay out for Americans why health insurance reform means more security and stability for them and their families. Building on the theme that he outlined at the start of last week’s press conference, the president will make it clear that when he signs a reform bill into law, the discrimination, dropping, and coverage gaps that riddle today’s health insurance system will be a thing of the past.”

Obama just finished a speech in North Carolina. And, he did make it about health insurance reform, because that's what it is. Here's some video:

Okay, that's important. Finally focusing on the real culprits. (Text from Obama's speech is after the break.)

Blue Dogs and the Baucus/Conrad caucus are in a position of siding with doctors and patients or siding with the GOP and the insurance industry. It's that simple. The insurance industry has a lot of lobbyists and a lot of campaign cash.

But, this is about reforming an industry that screws over the American people every day on pre-existing conditions, denials of payments and caps. That's also why the public option is important. The insurance companies need that competition to keep them honest. Anyone who has ever dealt with an insurance company knows we need to do everything to hold them accountable and keep them honest.

Here's more of Obama's speech on insurance reform:

Well let me explain why the health of America’s people and America’s economy demand health insurance reform. Let me explain what reform will mean for you.

First of all, no one is talking about some government takeover of health care. Under the reform I’ve proposed, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan. And if you’re one of the 46 million Americans who don’t have coverage today, you will finally be able to get quality, affordable coverage.

But what a lot of the chatter out there hasn’t focused on is the fact that if you’re an American who already has health insurance, the reform we’re proposing will provide you with more stability and security. Because the truth is, we have a system today that works well for the insurance industry, but it doesn’t always work well for you. What we need, and what we will have when we pass these reforms, are health insurance consumer protections to make sure that those who have insurance are treated fairly and insurance companies are held accountable.

Let me be specific. We will stop insurance companies from denying you coverage because of your medical history. I will never forget watching my own mother, as she fought cancer in her final days, worrying about whether her insurer would claim her illness was a preexisting condition so it could get out of providing coverage. How many of you have worried about the same thing? How many of you have been denied insurance or heard of someone who was denied insurance because they have a pre-existing condition? That will no longer be allowed.

With reform, insurance companies will have to abide by a yearly cap on how much you can be charged for out-of-pocket expenses. No one in America should go broke because of illness.

We will require insurance companies to cover routine checkups and preventive care, like mammograms, colonoscopies, or eye and foot exams for diabetics, so we can avoid chronic illnesses that cost not only lives, but money.

No longer will insurance companies be allowed to drop or water down coverage for someone who has become seriously ill. That’s not right and it’s not fair.

And we will stop insurance companies from placing arbitrary caps on the coverage you can receive in a given year or in a lifetime. Whether or not you have health insurance right now, the reforms we seek will bring stability and security that you don’t have today – reforms that become more urgent and more urgent with each passing year.