Reinsurance - Life Insurance Contract Holders' Benefits Incurred on Ceded Business (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	3 Months Ended	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Reinsurance Premiums for Insurance Companies, by Product Segment [Line Items]
Insurance losses and contract holders' benefits	$ 874	$ 753	$ 2,581	$ 2,298
Life Insurance Segment
Reinsurance Premiums for Insurance Companies, by Product Segment [Line Items]
Direct contract holders' benefits incurred	73	72	236	228
Ceded contract holders' benefits incurred	(14)	(9)	(52)	(40)
Insurance losses and contract holders' benefits	$ 59	$ 63	$ 184	$ 188

Amount, before effect of policies assumed or ceded, of expense related to provision for policy benefits and costs incurred.

Name:	us-gaap_PolicyholderBenefitsAndClaimsIncurredGross
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount, after effects of policies assumed or ceded, of expense related to the provision for policy benefits and costs incurred.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 225
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.7-04.5)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6879464&loc=d3e573970-122913

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6480758&loc=d3e6811-158387

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_PolicyholderBenefitsAndClaimsIncurredNet
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Amount of reduction of provision for policy benefits and costs incurred for policies ceded.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 3
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6480758&loc=d3e6811-158387

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ReinsuranceEffectOnClaimsAndBenefitsIncurredAmountCeded
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ReinsurancePremiumsForInsuranceCompaniesByProductSegmentLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_StatementBusinessSegmentsAxis=us-gaap_LifeInsuranceSegmentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: