The need for workplace accommodations for older workers and for funding to enable retirement security has given rise to new challenges that require flexibility as well as a whole new approach, according to the council's report.

The future of benefits, it said, is one in which health benefits will no longer be "siloed" separately from retirement benefits.

Instead a more holistic approach will replace the old way, not only so that benefits do a better job for employers and employees, but are also geared toward taking advantage of government options.

The report laid out 46 specific policy recommendations.

Many of the policy recommendations "will require modifications to the Internal Revenue Code," the report said, adding:

"If the employer-sponsored system is to endure, it must continue to be supported by stable tax policy that upholds a long-term view beyond temporary budget windows. To ensure all individuals can obtain needed security for health, retirement and other income protection needs, favorable tax treatment should be provided for individuals outside the employer system as well."

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Among the recommendations are an alternative automatic escalation safe harbor for retirement plans with higher default rates; allowing employers to escalate employee contributions beyond the current 10 percent cap; and voluntary, portable model plans for retirement income or retiree health coverage.

Also suggested are policy changes allowing small, unrelated businesses to join multiple employer plans so that they can share administrative costs; the exclusion of current retirement plan assets and future retirement plan benefits from eligibility calculations for state or federal housing and food subsidies; boosting retirement plan catch-up contributions and lowering the age for catch-up eligibility to 45; and helping employers to provide financial education and investment advice.

Some of the broader measures suggested included the establishment of financial education as a secondary school graduation requirement; providing access to Social Security and Medicare information in an integrated manner, so that people understand how they work together; and making people aware of the financial risks involved with greater longevity, so that they can better plan for the long term and understand when it is advantageous to delay claiming Social Security benefits.

There are also suggestions in the report to lessen the regulatory burden on employers for both retirement plans and health care — among them, repeal or modification of the PPACA excise tax on high-priced health plans — flexibility in the determination of full-time and part-time employees for PPACA eligibility, and changing the rules so that people can make partial withdrawals from retirement funds while they are still working part-time.

The council also recommended the establishment of a new type of account that would allow large employers to "support" workers' ability to obtain coverage through PPACA's public exchanges.

Obviously, changes of such breadth and magnitude will require considerable action in Congress, something that has not happened much of late, so it remains to be seen whether — and how much — such a plan might succeed.

Still, "the era of one-size-fits-all approaches to health and retirement benefits policy is over," said Janet Boyd, chair of the council's board of directors and director of government relations, tax and benefits for the Dow Chemical Co.

"American businesses must be flexible to navigate intense global competition and manage diverse workforces. It only makes sense that employee benefits policy itself be flexible enough to accommodate the full range of employer approaches," she said.

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