President Obama moves toward requiring health coverage

A day after signaling a willingness to consider taxing employer-sponsored health insurance, President Obama indicated a new openness toward a nationwide requirement that every American have health coverage. Obama previewed what could be the outlines of a compromise on two of the thorniest issues confronting Congress: He said he could support mandates on both individuals and employers to contribute to the cost of health insurance if the bill provides protections to certain small businesses and poor people.