Yesterday's address by President Obama before a joint session of Congress was a welcome step in a course correction toward the goal of achieving health care reform legislation.

But as sharply reasoned and warmly delivered as it was, there are too many blanks still unfilled in the president's reform plan for the speech to be, by itself, a game-changer. Even Obama admitted there were "significant details to be worked out," a comment that drew laughter from his audience.

This doesn't mean that the game can't be changed, only that there's a steep hill for the White House team to climb if that's to be accomplished. The heckling in the chambers underscored just how deep the partisan distrust and animosity remains.

Obama offered an olive branch to Republicans by pledging to try new curbs on medical malpractice suits. But it was clear yesterday that he needs to convince both liberal and the conservative "Blue Dog" Democrats, whose support he'll need to get a bill to his desk.

Meetings between the White House and recalcitrant members of the president's own party were on the agenda even before Obama was ushered to the dais.

Obama has said repeatedly that dysfunction in the health care system, left untouched, will enlarge the deficit. He needs to make that case in more detailed fashion to the Democrats who are worried that supporting the plan's estimated $900 billion cost over 10 years will sink their re-election chances with voters worried about the deficit.

And he needs to convince those voters — his wavering independent backers especially — that there's a good way to finance this without piling on the red ink. To that end, Obama was smart to insist on a "trigger" that would force other spending cuts should the promised savings from waste and abuse not materialize.

He also reached out to senior citizens directly, promising them, "I will protect Medicare."

And he put a four-year delay on the creation of the health-insurance exchange, which may or may not include a government-sponsored plan, to allow time to "get it right." As voters recoil against a huge program being rushed, this is a rational move.

The national nonprofit Families USA just issued data showing Hawai'i health premium costs rising almost four times as much as earnings in Hawai'i, with equally scary figures for states across the nation. The president must join such consumer groups in conveying the dire facts in crystal-clear terms.

Obama made an impressive start with his speech yesterday. But he's still a long way from the finish line.