Employee and Retiree Benefits

Postretirement health care and deferred compensation benefits are as follows:



(In thousands)	November 28, 2015			August 29, 2015
Postretirement health care benefit cost	$	5,905		$	34,535
Non-qualified deferred compensation	19,092			19,508
Executive share option plan liability	4,196			4,788
SERP benefit liability	2,694			2,649
Executive deferred compensation	376			299
Officer stock-based compensation	255			242
Total postretirement health care and deferred compensation benefits	32,518			62,021
Less current portion	(4,649		)	(4,931		)
Long-term postretirement health care and deferred compensation benefits	$	27,869		$	57,090

Postretirement Health Care Benefits

We provide certain health care and other benefits for retired employees hired before April 1, 2001, who have fulfilled eligibility requirements at age 55 with 15 years of continuous service. We use a September 1 measurement date for this plan and our postretirement health care plan currently is not funded.

In Fiscal 2005, through a plan amendment, we established dollar caps on the amount that we will pay for postretirement health care benefits per retiree on an annual basis so that we were not exposed to continued medical inflation. Retirees are required to pay a monthly premium in excess of the employer dollar caps for medical coverage based on years of service and age at retirement. Each January for the past four years, the employer established dollar caps were reduced by 10% through plan amendments. On September 28, 2015, we announced a plan amendment to our postretirement health care benefits. Beginning January 1, 2016, postretirement health care benefits will be discontinued for retirees age 65 and over. We plan to fund a $700,000 health reimbursement account in calendar 2016 to assist retirees with medical expenses. The plan amendment also includes a 10% reduction in employer paid premiums for retirees under age 65. As a result of these amendments, our liability for postretirement health care was reduced as presented in the following table.



Date	Event	Dollar Cap Reduction	Liability Reduction (In thousands)		Amortization Period⁽¹⁾
Fiscal 2005	Established employer dollar caps		$	40,414	11.5	years
January 2012	Reduced employer dollar caps	10%	4,598		7.8	years
January 2013	Reduced employer dollar caps	10%	4,289		7.5	years
January 2014	Reduced employer dollar caps	10%	3,580		7.3	years
January 2015	Reduced employer dollar caps	10%	3,960		7.1	years
January 2016 ⁽²⁾	Reduce employer dollar caps for retirees under age 65; discontinue retiree benefits for retirees age 65 and over	10%	28,596		6.9	years

⁽¹⁾ Plan amendments are amortized on a straight-line basis over the expected remaining service period of active plan participants.

⁽²⁾ In accordance with ASC 715, the effects of the plan amendment are accounted for at the date the amendment is adopted and has been communicated to plan participants. The effective date for this plan amendment was September 28, 2015.

Net periodic postretirement benefit income consisted of the following components:



	Three Months Ended
(In thousands)	November 28, 2015			November 29, 2014
Interest cost	$	153		$	353
Service cost	41			110
Amortization of prior service benefit	(1,713		)	(1,291		)
Amortization of net actuarial loss	368			316
Net periodic postretirement benefit income	$	(1,151	)	$	(512	)

Payments for postretirement health care	$	228		$	251