Employee and Retiree Benefits

Postretirement health care and deferred compensation benefits are as follows:



(In thousands)	November 26, 2016			August 27, 2016
Postretirement health care benefit cost	$	32		$	6,346
Non-qualified deferred compensation	17,616			18,003
Executive share option plan liability	3,181			3,341
SERP benefit liability	2,701			2,681
Executive deferred compensation	467			389
Officer stock-based compensation	657			763
Total deferred compensation and postretirement health care benefits	24,654			31,523
Less current portion	(4,693		)	(4,574		)
Long-term deferred compensation and postretirement health care benefits	$	19,961		$	26,949

Postretirement Health Care Benefits

Historically, we provided certain health care and other benefits for retired employees hired before April 1, 2001, who had fulfilled eligibility requirements at age 55 with 15 years of continuous service. We used a September 1 measurement date for this plan and our postretirement health care plan was not funded.

In Fiscal 2005, through a plan amendment, we established dollar caps on the amount that we paid for postretirement health care benefits per retiree on an annual basis so that we were not exposed to continued medical inflation. Retirees were 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 year from 2012 to 2015, the employer established dollar caps were reduced by 10% through plan amendments. On January 1, 2016, postretirement health care benefits were discontinued for retirees age 65 and over. The plan amendment also included a 10% reduction in employer paid premiums for retirees under age 65. On October 26, 2016, we announced the termination of the remaining postretirement health care benefits to all participants. Beginning January 1, 2017, postretirement health care benefits will be discontinued 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	Reduced employer dollar caps for retirees under age 65; discontinued retiree benefits for retirees age 65 and over	10%	28,596		6.9	years
January 2017 ⁽²⁾	Terminated plan		6,338		0.2	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 the date the amendment has been communicated to plan participants. The effective date for this plan amendment was October 26, 2016.

Net periodic postretirement benefit income consisted of the following components:



	Three Months Ended
(In thousands)	November 26, 2016			November 28, 2015
Interest cost	$	29		$	153
Service cost	16			41
Amortization of prior service benefit	(20,772		)	(1,713		)
Amortization of net actuarial loss	7,959			368
Net periodic postretirement benefit income	$	(12,768	)	$	(1,151	)

Payments for postretirement health care	$	53		$	228