Panel Recommends Cuts in Employer Health Care Tax Treatment

December 1, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – A report by President Obama’s fiscal commission, released Wednesday, recommends a higher retirement age and cutting back tax-free treatment of employer-paid health insurance.

A Washington Post news story said the final report from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, like a draft version, recommends reducing deficits by nearly $4 trillion by the end of the decade, in large part by slashing domestic and military spending.   

Future retirees would face significant sacrifices under the panel’s recommendations, including higher Medicare premiums and a retirement age that would rise to 69 by 2075, the Post said. The early retirement age would rise from 62 to 64.

The report contains strengthened protections for workers in physically demanding jobs who might find it difficult to delay retirement, recommending that the Social Security Administration be directed to develop a hardship exemption.

The commission’s final report is here.

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