BENEFIT PLANS

The following sets forth the components of net periodic benefit cost of the Company’s defined benefit plans and for the Company’s other postemployment benefit plans for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015:



Defined Benefit Plans	Three Months Ended						Nine Months Ended
(in millions)	2016			2015			2016			2015

Service cost	$	3.8		$	4.3		$	11.5		$	13.0
Interest cost	2.0			1.8			5.8			5.5
Expected return on plan assets	(1.2		)	(1.3		)	(3.6		)	(4.1		)
Amortization of prior service credit	—			—			(0.1		)	(0.1		)
Amortization of net actuarial loss	1.3			1.9			3.8			5.9
Curtailment and settlement loss	1.2			—			1.2			—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	7.1		$	6.7		$	18.6		$	20.2



Other Postemployment Benefit Plans	Three Months Ended				Nine Months Ended
(in millions)	2016		2015		2016		2015

Service cost	$	—	$	0.1	$	0.2	$	0.3
Interest cost	0.1		0.1		0.4		0.5
Amortization of net actuarial loss	0.1		0.1		0.2		0.1
Net periodic benefit cost	$	0.2	$	0.3	$	0.8	$	0.9

The following sets forth the information related to the contributions to the Company’s benefit plans for 2016:



(in millions)	Pension Benefits		Other Postemployment Benefits

Actual contributions through September 30, 2016	$	10.6	$	0.1
Projected contributions for the remainder of the year	4.2		0.6
Total projected contributions	$	14.8	$	0.7

The Company predominantly uses liability durations in establishing its discount rates, which are observed from indices of high-grade corporate bond yield curves in the respective economic regions of the plan. During the first quarter of 2016, the Company changed the method utilized to estimate the service cost and interest cost components of net periodic benefit costs for the Company’s major defined benefit pension plans in Germany, Switzerland and for all defined benefit pension and other postemployment healthcare plans in the United States. Historically, the Company estimated the service cost and interest cost components using a single weighted average discount rate derived from the yield curve used to measure the benefit obligation at the beginning of the period. The Company has elected to use a spot rate approach for the estimation of these components of benefit cost by applying the specific spot rates along the yield curve to the relevant projected cash flows, as the Company believes this provides a better estimate of service and interest costs. The Company considers this a change in estimate and, accordingly, started to account for it prospectively in the quarter ended March 31, 2016. This change does not affect the measurement of the Company’s total benefit obligation.