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INVESTMENT OPERATIONS - Additional Information (Details)	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		8 Months Ended	9 Months Ended	11 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) position subsidiary	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2016 USD ($) position subsidiary	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) subsidiary
Investment [Line Items]
Total positions that were in an unrealized loss position \| position		1,230			1,230
Red Mountain
Investment [Line Items]
Ownership interest through an affiliate (as a percent)					100.00%
Investment to which risk of loss related to the VIE is limited		$ 10,000			$ 10,000
Successor
Investment [Line Items]
Gross unrealized loss, greater than 12 months		733,578,000			733,578,000	$ 0
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		37,481,901,000			37,481,901,000	33,736,825,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		37,620,475,000			37,620,475,000	36,612,808,000
Other-than-temporary impairments on held-to-maturity securities		$ 0	$ 0	$ 0	$ 0
Unrecognized Holding Loss						$ 78,300,000
Successor \| Red Mountain
Investment [Line Items]
Number of wholly owned subsidiaries that were determined to be VIEs \| subsidiary		1			1	1
Successor \| External Credit Rating, Non Investment Grade
Investment [Line Items]
Trading securities		$ 266,400,000			$ 266,400,000
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		1,900,000,000			1,900,000,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		2,000,000,000			2,000,000,000
Securities not publicly traded		328,600,000			328,600,000
Successor \| Fixed maturities
Investment [Line Items]
Trading securities		2,800,000,000			2,800,000,000	$ 2,700,000,000
Other-than-temporary impairments related to fixed maturities or equity securities that the entity intended to sell or expected to be required to sell		0	$ 0	$ 0	0
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		36,646,623,000			36,646,623,000	32,843,049,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		36,803,896,000			36,803,896,000	35,725,810,000
Gross Unrealized Gains		121,136,000			121,136,000	0
Gross Unrealized Losses		(1,751,000)			(1,751,000)	(78,314,000)
Successor \| Equity securities
Investment [Line Items]
Trading securities		7,300,000			7,300,000	8,300,000
Gross unrealized loss, greater than 12 months		5,766,000			5,766,000	0
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		692,408,000			692,408,000	691,666,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		673,709,000			673,709,000	684,888,000
Successor \| Short-term investments
Investment [Line Items]
Trading securities		25,700,000			25,700,000	61,700,000
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		142,870,000			142,870,000	202,110,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		142,870,000			142,870,000	202,110,000
Successor \| Residential mortgage-backed securities
Investment [Line Items]
Gross unrealized loss, greater than 12 months		4,125,000			4,125,000	0
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		1,886,713,000			1,886,713,000	1,765,273,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		1,842,012,000			1,842,012,000	1,773,099,000
Successor \| Commercial mortgage-backed securities
Investment [Line Items]
Gross unrealized loss, greater than 12 months		1,470,000			1,470,000	0
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		1,683,226,000			1,683,226,000	1,285,864,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		1,654,152,000			1,654,152,000	1,327,288,000
Successor \| Other asset-backed securities
Investment [Line Items]
Gross unrealized loss, greater than 12 months		15,423,000			$ 15,423,000	0
Underlying Collateral, Percentage guaranteed by the Federal Family Education Loan Program					97.00%
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		1,201,916,000			$ 1,201,916,000	797,051,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		1,202,982,000			1,202,982,000	813,056,000
Successor \| States, municipals, and political subdivisions
Investment [Line Items]
Gross unrealized loss, greater than 12 months		20,487,000			20,487,000	0
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		1,727,261,000			1,727,261,000	1,603,600,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		1,725,351,000			1,725,351,000	1,729,732,000
Successor \| Corporate securities
Investment [Line Items]
Gross unrealized loss, greater than 12 months		684,620,000			684,620,000	0
Available-for-sale securities, fair value		28,724,022,000			28,724,022,000	25,778,657,000
Available-for-sale securities, amortized cost		$ 28,966,811,000			$ 28,966,811,000	$ 28,433,530,000
Predecessor
Investment [Line Items]
Other-than-temporary impairments on held-to-maturity securities	$ 0
Predecessor \| Fixed maturities
Investment [Line Items]
Other-than-temporary impairments related to fixed maturities or equity securities that the entity intended to sell or expected to be required to sell	$ 0