Policy Claims and Other Benefits Payable

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Liability For Future Policy Benefits And Unpaid Claims And Claims Adjustment Expense [Abstract]

Policy Claims and Other Benefits Payable

(9) Policy Claims and Other Benefits Payable

Changes in policy claims and other benefits payable were as follows:

	Year ended December 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(In thousands)
Policy claims and other benefits payable, beginning of period	$	307,401		$	268,136		$	238,157
Less reinsured policy claims and other benefits payable		322,137			323,195			263,003
Net balance, beginning of period		(14,736	)		(55,059	)		(24,846	)
Incurred related to current year		176,854			162,256			143,518
Incurred related to prior years ⁽¹⁾		(1,355	)		2,230			(522	)
Total incurred		175,499			164,486			142,996
Claims paid related to current year, net of reinsured policy claims received		(187,453	)		(181,670	)		(203,015	)
Reinsured policy claims received related to prior years, net of claims paid		22,426			57,192			29,546
Total paid		(165,027	)		(124,478	)		(173,469	)
Foreign currency translation		(527	)		315			260
Net balance, end of period		(4,791	)		(14,736	)		(55,059	)
Add reinsured policy claims and other benefits payable		318,653			322,137			323,195
Balance, end of period	$	313,862		$	307,401		$	268,136

⁽¹⁾ Includes the difference between our estimate of claims incurred but not yet reported at year end and the actual incurred claims reported after year end.

See Note 1 (Description of Business, Basis of Presentation, and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) for details regarding the accounting for policyholder liabilities.