Liability for Unpaid Claims

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Activity in the liability for unpaid health claims is summarized as follows:



	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017			2016
Balance at beginning of period	$	143,128		$	137,120
Incurred related to:
Current year	135,377			126,897
Prior years	(4,024		)	(316		)
Total incurred	131,353			126,581
Paid related to:
Current year	54,241			52,621
Prior years	77,555			76,421
Total paid	131,796			129,042
Balance at end of period	$	142,685		$	134,659

Below is the reconciliation of the liability for "Policy claims and other benefits payable" in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.



	March 31, 2017		December 31, 2016
Policy claims and other benefits payable:
Short-duration contracts	$	24,341	$	26,721
Insurance lines other than short duration—health	118,344		116,407
Insurance lines other than short duration—life	159,259		156,437
Total policy claims and other benefits payable	$	301,944	$	299,565

Short-Duration Contracts

Although Torchmark primarily sells long-duration contracts for both life and health, the Company also has a limited amount of group health products that qualify as short-duration contracts in accordance with the applicable guidance.

The below table illustrates the total incurred but not reported liabilities plus expected development on reported claims for short-duration products over the last five years. Claim frequency is determined by duration and incurred date.



	As of March 31, 2017
Accident Year	Total of incurred-but-not-reported liabilities plus expected development on reported claims
2013	$	—
2014	7
2015	210
2016	6,174
2017	17,950
Total	$	24,341