Fair Value of Assets and Liabilities (Changes in Level 3 Assets and Liabilities) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012		Sep. 30, 2011		Sep. 30, 2012		Sep. 30, 2011
Equity Securities [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring Basis Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair Value, beginning of period			$ 230				$ 0
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net			0				0
Asset management fees and other income							0
Included in other comprehensive income (loss)			0				0
Net investment income			0				0
Purchases			0				0
Sales			0				(746)
Issuances			0				0
Settlements			0				0
Other			(230)	[1]			(230)	[1]
Transfers into Level 3			0	[2]			976
Transfers out of Level 3			0	[2]			0	[2]
Fair Value, end of period			0				0
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net			0	[3]			0
Asset management fees and other income			0	[3]			0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances			0	[3]			0
Debt Securities [Member] | Corporate Debt Securities [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring Basis Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair Value, beginning of period	92,461		93,700		89,658		74,255
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	1,567		0		1,576		35
Asset management fees and other income	0				0		0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances					0
Included in other comprehensive income (loss)	2,143		4,794		2,883		5,334
Net investment income	1,120		1,157		3,497		3,394
Purchases	0		450		5,400		8,703
Sales	0		0		(29)		0
Issuances	0		0		0		0
Settlements	(1,901)		(749)		(7,896)		(2,392)
Other			0	[1]			0	[1]
Transfers into Level 3	0	[2]	19,600	[2]	11,992	[2]	51,134
Transfers out of Level 3	0	[2]	(8,129)	[2]	(11,691)	[2]	(29,640)	[2]
Fair Value, end of period	95,390		110,823		95,390		110,823
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	0	[3]	0	[3]	0	[3]	0
Asset management fees and other income	0		0	[3]	0		0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances	0		0	[3]	0		0
Debt Securities [Member] | Asset-backed Securities [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring Basis Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair Value, beginning of period	51,766		53,890		48,563		53,857
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	0		0		0		0
Asset management fees and other income	0				0		0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances					0
Included in other comprehensive income (loss)	10		(834)		963		297
Net investment income	151		92		502		333
Purchases	7,992		0		15,492		0
Sales	0		0		0		0
Issuances	0		0		0		0
Settlements	(2,216)		(1,433)		(7,817)		(2,772)
Other			0	[1]			0	[1]
Transfers into Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0
Transfers out of Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]
Fair Value, end of period	57,703		51,715		57,703		51,715
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	0	[3]	0	[3]	0	[3]	0
Asset management fees and other income	0		0	[3]	0		0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances	0		0	[3]	0		0
Other Long-term Investments [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring Basis Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair Value, beginning of period	305		186		1,213		0
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	(646)		65		(1,623)		251
Asset management fees and other income	10				12		(56)
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances					0
Included in other comprehensive income (loss)	0		(56)		0		0
Net investment income	0		0		0		0
Purchases	2,089		219		2,149		219
Sales	0		0		0		0
Issuances	0		0		0		0
Settlements	(1)		0		6		0
Other			0	[1]			0	[1]
Transfers into Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0
Transfers out of Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]
Fair Value, end of period	1,757		414		1,757		414
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	0	[3]	64	[3]	0	[3]	226
Asset management fees and other income	10		(27)	[3]	12		(56)
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances	0		0	[3]	0		0
Trading Asset [Member] | Equity Securities [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring Basis Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair Value, beginning of period	197		0		203		0
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	0		0		0		0
Asset management fees and other income	(2)						0
Asset management fees and other income					(8)
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances					0
Included in other comprehensive income (loss)	0		1		0		1
Net investment income	0		0		0		0
Purchases	0		0		0		0
Sales	0		0		0		0
Issuances	0		0		0		0
Settlements	0		0		0		0
Other			230	[1]			230	[1]
Transfers into Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]
Transfers out of Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]
Fair Value, end of period	195		231		195		231
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	0	[3]	0	[3]	0	[3]	0	[3]
Asset management fees and other income	(2)		2	[3]	(8)		2	[3]
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances	0		0	[3]	0		0	[3]
Separate Accounts Asset [Member]
Included In Earnings
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances	0
Future Policy Benefits [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring Basis Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair Value, beginning of period	(1,795,715)		(95,603)		(1,783,595)		(164,283)
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	(31,202)		(1,722,775)		73,429		(1,543,017)
Asset management fees and other income	0				0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances					0
Included in other comprehensive income (loss)	0				0
Net investment income	0				0
Purchases	0		0		0		0
Sales	0				0
Issuances	(59,731)		(56,149)		(176,482)		(167,227)
Settlements	0				0
Transfers into Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0
Transfers out of Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0
Fair Value, end of period	(1,886,648)		(1,874,527)		(1,886,648)		(1,874,527)
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	(43,763)	[3]	(1,724,423)	[3]	34,583	[3]	(1,549,569)
Asset management fees and other income	0		0	[3]	0		0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances	0		0	[3]	0		0
Reinsurance Recoverable [Member]
Fair Value Assets And Liabilities Measured On Recurring Basis Unobservable Input Reconciliation [Line Items]
Fair Value, beginning of period	1,761,274		118,635		1,747,757		186,735
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	4,037		1,665,947		(93,818)		1,491,815
Asset management fees and other income	0				0		0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances					0
Included in other comprehensive income (loss)	0		0		0		0
Net investment income	0		0		0		0
Purchases	57,012		53,547		168,384		159,579
Sales	0		0		0		0
Issuances	0		0		0		0
Settlements	0		0		0		0
Other			0	[1]			0	[1]
Transfers into Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0
Transfers out of Level 3	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]	0	[2]
Fair Value, end of period	1,822,323		1,838,129		1,822,323		1,838,129
Included In Earnings
Realized investment gains (losses), net	16,488	[3]	1,667,836	[3]	(55,459)	[3]	1,498,922
Asset management fees and other income	0		0	[3]	0		0
Interest credited to policyholders' account balances	$ 0		$ 0	[3]	$ 0		$ 0

[1]   (3) Other primarily represents reclasses of certain assets between reporting categories.

[2]   (1) Transfers into or out of level 3 are generally reported as the value as of the beginning of the quarter in which the transfer occurs.

[3]   (2) Unrealized gains or losses related to assets still held at the end of the period do not include amortization or accretion of premiums and discounts.