Employee Benefit Plans

The Company maintains a non-contributory defined benefit pension plan that covers substantially all U.S. employees who were employed at December 31, 2011. After that date, no further benefits are being accrued in this plan. For the frozen pension plan, benefits are based primarily on years of service and, for certain plans, levels of compensation. The Company plans to terminate the pension plan in 2018, but there will be no accounting recognition until the final disposition of assets occurs.

The Company also maintains supplemental non-qualified plans for certain officers and other key employees, and an Employee Savings and Stock Option Plan (“ESSOP”) for the majority of the U.S. employees.

The Company additionally has a postretirement healthcare benefit plan that provides medical benefits for certain U.S. retirees and eligible dependents hired prior to November 1, 2004. Employees are eligible to receive postretirement healthcare benefits upon meeting certain age and service requirements. No employees hired after October 31, 2004 are eligible to receive these benefits. This plan requires employee contributions to offset benefit costs.

The following table sets forth the components of net periodic benefit (income) cost for the three months ended March 31, 2018 and 2017 based on December 31, 2017 and 2016 actuarial measurement dates, respectively:



	Defined pension plan benefits						Other postretirement benefits
(In thousands)	2018			2017			2018			2017
Service cost – benefits earned during the year	$	29		$	24		$	34		$	35
Interest cost on projected benefit obligations	95			318			48			51
Expected return on plan assets	(244		)	(402		)	—			—
Amortization of prior service cost	—			—			(6		)	(6		)
Amortization of net loss	88			135			—			—
Net periodic benefit (income) cost	$	(32	)	$	75		$	76		$	80

The Company disclosed in its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017 that it was not required to make a minimum contribution to the defined benefit pension plan for the 2018 calendar year. The Company believes that no additional contributions will be required during 2018.

The Company also disclosed in its financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2017 that it estimated it would pay $0.4 million in other postretirement benefits in 2018 based on actuarial estimates. As of March 31, 2018, $71,500 of such benefits have been paid. The Company continues to believe that its estimated payments for the full year are reasonable. However, such estimates contain inherent uncertainties because cash payments can vary significantly depending on the timing of postretirement medical claims and the collection of the retirees’ portion of certain costs. Note that the amount of benefits paid in calendar year 2018 will not impact the expense for postretirement benefits for 2018.