What the Business Roundtable proposes

• Raise eligibility age for collecting full benefits from 67 to 70 for people now under 55. This does not change the existing "early retirement" option that offers limited benefits beginning at 62.

• Adjust benefits gradually to ensure full-career workers always have incomes above federal poverty line.

• Make newly hired state and local workers pay into the Social Security fund.

• Encourage more private savings.

• Raise eligibility age from 65 to 70 for people now under 55.

• Expand private health insurance alternatives to traditional Medicare and support them with publicly paid premium supports.

• Consider means testing for Medicare services for "upper-income beneficiaries" by 2015.