STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Stock-Based Compensation

STOCK-BASED COMPENSATION

BioScrip Equity Incentive Plan

Under the Company’s Amended and Restated 2008 Equity Incentive Plan (as amended and restated, the “2008 Plan”), the Company may issue, among other things, incentive stock options, non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights ("SARs"), restricted stock grants, restricted stock units and performance units to key employees and directors. While SARs are authorized under the 2008 Plan, they may also be issued outside of the plan.

On May 8, 2014, the Company’s stockholders (i) approved an amendment to the 2008 Plan to increase the number of authorized shares of Common Stock available for issuance by 2,500,000 shares (the “2014 Additional Shares”) to 9,355,000 shares and to clarify that cash dividends or dividend equivalents may not be paid to holders of unvested restricted stock units, restricted stock grants and performance units until such awards are vested and non-forfeitable; and (ii) re-approved the material terms of the performance goals that are a part of the 2008 Plan. On September 19, 2014, the Company filed a Registration Statement on Form S-8 to register the issuance of the 2014 Additional Shares that were approved by the Company’s stockholders on May 8, 2014.

As of September 30, 2016, 2,465,644 shares remain available for grant under the 2008 Plan.

Stock Options

The Company recognized compensation expense related to stock options of $1.0 million and $1.0 million during the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively, and $2.7 million and $4.1 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Restricted Stock

The Company recognized $0.4 million and $0.1 million of compensation expense related to restricted stock awards during the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. In addition, the Company recognized $0.4 million of compensation expense related to restricted stock awards during both the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015.

Stock Appreciation Rights and Market Based Cash Awards

The Company recognized a nominal amount of compensation benefit related to stock appreciation rights awards during the three months ended September 30, 2016 and $0.2 million of compensation benefit related to stock appreciation rights awards during the three months ended September 30, 2015. The Company recognized $0.1 million of compensation expense and $0.9 million of compensation benefit related to stock appreciation rights awards during the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively. In addition, the Company recognized nominal compensation expense related to market based cash awards during the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, and $0.1 million and nominal compensation expense during nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Employee Stock Purchase Plan

On May 7, 2013, the Company’s stockholders approved the BioScrip, Inc. Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the “ESPP”). The ESPP provides all eligible employees, as defined under the ESPP, the opportunity to purchase up to a maximum number of shares of Common Stock of the Company as determined by the Compensation Committee. Participants in the ESPP may acquire the Common Stock at a cost of 85% of the lower of the fair market value on the first or last day of the quarterly offering period. The Company has filed a Registration Statement on Form S-8 to register 750,000 shares of Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share, for issuance under the ESPP.

As of September 30, 2016, there were 517,327 shares that remained available for grant under the ESPP. Since inception, the ESPP’s third-party service provider has purchased 288,943 shares on the open market and delivered these shares to the Company’s employees pursuant to the ESPP. During the three months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, we incurred less than $0.1 million of expense related to the ESPP. During the nine months ended September 30, 2016 and 2015, we incurred $0.1 million of expense related to the ESPP.