Obama budgets $634 billion health care reserve fund

President Barack Obama has set aside $634 billion in a reserve fund to address changes in the health care system, The New York Times reports. About half of that fund will come from proposed cost savings in Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs; the other half would come from a combination of pollution emission permits, and changes to tax rules for the rich.

There are some potentially contentious plans to finance health care reform. Administration officials suggested to senior aides in Congress on Wednesday that revenues could be raised by ending the policy of excluding the value of employer-provided health insurance from income taxes, the Times writes.