Comcast 2014 Annual Report Download - page 173

Table of Contents
NBCUniversal Media, LLC
Note 12: Postretirement, Pension and Other Employee Benefit Plans
The table below provides condensed information on our postretirement and pension benefit plans.
Postretirement Benefit Plans
We have postretirement medical and life insurance plans that provide continuous coverage to employees eligible to receive such
benefits and give credit for length of service provided before the close of the joint venture transaction.
Substantially all of the employees that were contributed by Comcast as part of the joint venture transaction participate in a
postretirement healthcare stipend program (the “stipend plan”).
The stipend plan provides an annual stipend for reimbursement of
healthcare costs to each eligible employee based on years of service. Under the stipend plan, we are not exposed to the increasing
costs of healthcare because the benefits are fixed at a predetermined amount.
All of our postretirement benefit plans are unfunded and substantially all of our postretirement benefit obligations are recorded to
noncurrent liabilities. The expense we recognize for our postretirement benefit plans is determined using certain assumptions,
including the discount rate.
Pension Plans
We sponsor various qualified and nonqualified defined benefit plans for domestic employees for which future benefits have been
frozen. We ceased to recognize service costs associated with these defined benefit plans following the date on which future
benefits were frozen. The expense we recognize for our defined benefit plans is determined using certain assumptions, including
the discount rate and the expected long-
term rate of return on plan assets. We recognize the funded or unfunded status of our
defined benefit plans as an asset or liability in our consolidated balance sheet and recognize changes in the funded status in the
year in which the changes occur through accumulated other comprehensive income (loss). In addition to the defined benefit plans
we sponsor, we are also obligated to reimburse GE for future benefit payments to those participants who were vested in the
supplemental pension plan sponsored by GE at the time of the joint venture transaction.
2014
2013
2012
Year ended December 31 (in millions)
Postretirement
Benefits
Pension
Benefits
Postretirement
Benefits
Pension
Benefits
Postretirement
Benefits
Pension
Benefits
Benefit obligation
$
209
$
581
$
158
$
498
$
177
$
546
Fair value of plan assets
—
242
—
220
—
217
Plan funded status and recorded benefit
obligation
(209
)
(339
)
(158
)
(278
)
(177
)
(329
)
Portion of benefit obligation not yet
recognized in benefit expense
(3
)
53
(44
)
(3
)
(11
)
53
Benefits expense
12
14
14
12
15
142
Discount rate
4.25
%
3.75
-
4.25
%
5.25
%
4.50-
5.25
%
4.25
%
3.75-
4.25
%
Expected return on plan assets
N/A
5.00
%
N/A
5.00
%
N/A
5.00
%
(a)
The fair value of the plan assets are primarily based on Level 1 inputs that use quoted market prices for identical financial instruments in an active market.
(b)
We did not recognize service costs related to our pension plans in 2014 and 2013 as the plans were frozen. The 2012 amount included service costs related to our
pension benefits of $134 million.
Comcast 2014 Annual Report on Form 10-K
168
(a)
(b)