Reinsurance (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Reinsurance Disclosures [Abstract]

Ceded Credit Risk [Table Text Block]

The following table presents information for the Company’s ceded reinsurance receivable assets, including the respective amount and A.M. Best rating for each reinsurer representing in excess of five percent of the total as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 (dollars in thousands):

		2016				2015
Reinsurer	A.M. Best Rating	Amount		% of Total		Amount		% of Total
Reinsurer A	A+	$	240,894	35.2	%	$	199,479	31.3	%
Reinsurer B	A+	183,881		26.9		179,522		28.1
Reinsurer C	A+	68,832		10.1		72,836		11.4
Reinsurer D	A++	36,202		5.3		41,807		6.6
Reinsurer E	A	35,484		5.2		37,138		5.8
Other reinsurers		118,679		17.3		107,077		16.8
Total		$	683,972	100.0	%	$	637,859	100.0	%

Reinsurance Premium And Effect On Claims And Other Policy Benefits [Table Text Block]

The effect of reinsurance on net premiums is as follows (dollars in thousands):

Years ended December 31,	2016			2015			2014
Direct	$	57,562		$	43,106		$	19,365
Reinsurance assumed	10,049,587			9,371,308			9,098,378
Reinsurance ceded	(858,278		)	(843,673		)	(447,889		)
Net premiums	$	9,248,871		$	8,570,741		$	8,669,854

The effect of reinsurance on claims and other policy benefits as follows (dollars in thousands):

Years ended December 31,	2016			2015			2014
Direct	$	105,435		$	82,942		$	32,564
Reinsurance assumed	8,621,647			8,205,308			7,805,984
Reinsurance ceded	(733,707		)	(798,868		)	(431,907		)
Net claims and other policy benefits	$	7,993,375		$	7,489,382		$	7,406,641

Reinsurance Information [Table Text Block]

The effect of reinsurance on life insurance in force is shown in the following schedule (dollars in millions):

	Direct		Assumed		Ceded		Net		Assumed/Net %
December 31, 2016	$	1,576	$	3,062,525	$	214,727	$	2,849,374	107.5	%
December 31, 2015	1,686		2,995,079		222,388		2,774,377		108.0
December 31, 2014	78		2,943,517		230,544		2,713,051		108.5