Reinsurance

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Reinsurance

Reinsurance

Note 11 ― Reinsurance

The Company's insurance subsidiaries enter into agreements with other insurance companies to assume and cede reinsurance.  Reinsurance is ceded primarily to limit losses from large exposures and to permit recovery of a portion of direct losses. Reinsurance is also used in acquisition and disposition transactions when the underwriting company is not being acquired. Reinsurance does not relieve the originating insurer of liability.  The Company regularly evaluates the financial condition of its reinsurers and monitors its concentrations of credit risk.

Retirement benefits business.  The Company had reinsurance recoverables of $1.5 billion as of March 31, 2012and $1.6 billion as of December 31, 2011 from Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company resulting from the sale of the retirement benefits business, which was primarily in the form of a reinsurance arrangement.  The reinsurance recoverable, which is reduced as the Company's reinsured liabilities are paid or directly assumed by the reinsurer, is secured primarily by fixed maturities whose book value is equal to or greater than 100% of the reinsured liabilities. These fixed maturities are held in a trust established for the benefit of the Company.As of March 31, 2012, the book value of the trust assets exceeded the recoverable.

Individual life and annuity reinsurance. The Company had reinsurance recoverablesof $4.1 billion as of March 31, 2012 and$4.2 billion as ofDecember 31, 2011 from The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and Lincoln Life & Annuity of New York resulting from the 1998 sale of the Company's individual life insurance and annuity business through indemnity reinsurance arrangements.The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and Lincoln Life & Annuity of New Yorkmust maintain a specified minimum credit or claims paying rating, or it will be required to fully secure the outstanding balance. As of March 31, 2012 both companies hadratings sufficientto avoid triggering a contractual obligation.

Other Ceded and Assumed Reinsurance

Ceded Reinsurance: Ongoing operations. The Company's insurance subsidiaries have reinsurance recoverables from various reinsurance arrangements in the ordinary course of business for its Health Care, Disability and Life, and International segments as well as the non-leveraged and leveraged corporate-owned life insurance business. Reinsurance recoverables of $317million as of March 31, 2012 are expected to be collectedfrom more than 70 reinsurers.

The Company reviews its reinsurance arrangements and establishes reserves against the recoverables in the event that recovery is not considered probable. As of March 31, 2012, the Company's recoverables related to these segments were net of a reserve of $4million.

Assumed and Ceded reinsurance: Run-off Reinsurance segment. The Company's Run-off Reinsurance operations assumed risks related to GMDB contracts, GMIB contracts, workers' compensation, and personal accident business and also purchased retrocessional coverage to reduce the risk of loss on these contracts. In 2010, the Company entered into reinsurance arrangements to transfer the remaining liabilities and administration of the workers' compensation and personal accident businesses to a subsidiary of Enstar Group Limited. Under this arrangement, the new reinsurer also assumes the future risk of collection from prior reinsurers.

Liabilities related to GMDB, workers' compensation and personal accident are included in future policy benefits and unpaid claims. Because the GMIB contracts are treated as derivatives under GAAP, the asset related to GMIB is recorded in the captionOther assets, including other intangibles and the liability related to GMIB is recorded in the caption Accounts payable, accrued expenses, and other liabilities on the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheets (see Notes 7 and 17 for additional discussion of the GMIB assets and liabilities).

The reinsurance recoverables for GMDB, workers' compensation, and personal accident total$243 million as of March 31, 2012. Of this amount, approximately 94% are secured by assets in trust or letters of credit.

The Company reviews its reinsurance arrangements and establishes reserves against the recoverables in the event thatrecovery is not considered probable. As of March 31, 2012, the Company's recoverables related to this segment were net of a reserve of $1million.

The Company's payment obligations for underlying reinsurance exposures assumed by the Company under these contracts are based on the ceding companies' claim payments. For GMDB, claim payments vary because of changes in equity markets and interest rates, as well as claim mortality and contractholder behavior. Any of these claim payments can extend many years into the future, and the amount of the ceding companies' ultimate claims, and therefore the amount of the Company's ultimate payment obligations and corresponding ultimate collection from retrocessionaires, may not be known with certainty for some time.

Summary.The Company's reserves for underlying reinsurance exposures assumed by the Company, as well as for amounts recoverable from reinsurers/retrocessionaires for both ongoing operations and the run-off reinsurance operation, are considered appropriate as of March 31, 2012, based on current information. However, it is possible that future developments could have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated results of operations and, in certain situations, such as if actual experience differs from the assumptions used in estimating reserves for GMDB, could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition. The Company bears the risk of loss if its retrocessionaires do not meet or are unable to meet their reinsurance obligations to the Company.

Effects of reinsurance. In the Company's Consolidated Statements of Income, Premiums and fees were net of ceded premiums, and Total benefits and expenses were net of reinsurance recoveries, in the following amounts:

	Three Months Ended
	March 31,
(In millions)	2012		2011
Ceded premiums and fees
Individual life insurance and annuity business sold	$	51	$	47
Other		66		58
Total	$	117	$	105
Reinsurance recoveries
Individual life insurance and annuity business sold	$	68	$	65
Other		54		47
Total	$	122	$	112