Reinsurance (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

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, 2018 or 2017 (dollars in thousands):

		2018				2017
Reinsurer	A.M. Best Rating	Amount		% of Total		Amount		% of Total
Reinsurer A	A+	$	303,036	40.0	%	$	301,478	38.6	%
Reinsurer B	A+	193,324		25.5		203,898		26.1
Reinsurer C	A	69,885		9.2		67,723		8.7
Reinsurer D	A+	40,004		5.3		40,528		5.2
Reinsurer E	A++	36,600		4.8		40,592		5.2
Other reinsurers		114,723		15.2		127,808		16.2
Total		$	757,572	100.0	%	$	782,027	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,	2018			2017			2016
Direct	$	62,526		$	61,571		$	57,562
Reinsurance assumed	11,341,284			10,642,462			10,049,587
Reinsurance ceded	(860,034		)	(862,903		)	(858,278		)
Net premiums	$	10,543,776		$	9,841,130		$	9,248,871

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

Years ended December 31,	2018			2017			2016
Direct	$	107,405		$	104,447		$	105,435
Reinsurance assumed	9,997,173			9,281,590			8,621,647
Reinsurance ceded	(785,649		)	(867,120		)	(733,707		)
Net claims and other policy benefits	$	9,318,929		$	8,518,917		$	7,993,375

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, 2018	$	1,363	$	3,329,181	$	186,172	$	3,144,372	105.9	%
December 31, 2017	1,462		3,297,275		205,529		3,093,208		106.6
December 31, 2016	1,576		3,062,525		214,727		2,849,374		107.5