President Obama met with 24 Democratic senators at the White House Tuesday to talk about healthcare alteration legislation. During the meeting the president reportedly gave tentative maintain for taxing employer-provided health benefits, but the White House later stressed that Obama would rather use other methods to pay for reform. Many news outlets note that Obama opposed the tax during his presidential campaign, and called the move a "pivot" or "shift" in his view. The New York Times information that "Obama on Tuesday affirmed his support for the creation of a government-sponsored health insurance plan, but he acknowledged that such a plan would sharply reduce the chances for Republican support of legislation to overhaul the healthcare system, Democratic senators said."

The Washington Post reports that Obama told the senators "that he is willing to consider taxing employer-sponsored health benefits to assist pay for a broad expansion of coverage." This is "a pivot from some of his harshest campaign rhetoric," according to the Post, but "White House officials moved fast to make clear that taxing the health insurance provided by businesses is not Obama's first option, but aides refused to rule out the possibility."