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Fair Values of Financial Instruments (Fair Values and Carrying Amounts of Financial Instruments) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Assets
Held for investment	$ 62,000	$ 75,838
Other investments	284,994	286,726
Coinsurance deposits	3,062,924	3,044,342
Liabilities
Policy benefit reserves	43,582,521	39,802,861
Carrying Amount [Member]
Assets
Mortgage loans on real estate	2,452,402	2,434,580
Derivative instruments	180,649	731,113
Other investments	275,300	266,488
Cash and cash equivalents	523,614	701,514
Coinsurance deposits	3,062,924	3,044,342
2015 notes hedges	0	30,291
Counterparty collateral	30,880	206,096
Liabilities
Policy benefit reserves	43,240,623	39,463,987
Single premium immediate annuity (SPIA) benefit reserves	334,921	365,440
Notes payable	400,000	421,679
Subordinated debentures	246,397	246,243
2015 notes embedded conversion derivative	0	30,291
Carrying Amount [Member] | Interest Rate Caps [Member]
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	1,492	2,778
Carrying Amount [Member] | Interest Rate Swap [Member]
Liabilities
Interest rate derivative liabilities	4,528	2,644
Carrying Amount [Member] | Fixed Maturity Securities [Member]
Assets
Available for sale securities	35,389,842	32,445,202
Held for investment	76,574	76,432
Carrying Amount [Member] | Equity Securities [Member]
Assets
Available for sale securities	7,833	7,805
Fair Value [Member]
Assets
Mortgage loans on real estate	2,492,283	2,493,901
Derivative instruments	180,649	731,113
Other investments	282,277	273,004
Cash and cash equivalents	523,614	701,514
Coinsurance deposits	2,750,361	2,698,552
2015 notes hedges	0	30,291
Counterparty collateral	30,880	206,096
Liabilities
Policy benefit reserves	36,871,234	33,078,978
Single premium immediate annuity (SPIA) benefit reserves	346,930	377,654
Notes payable	421,500	503,349
Subordinated debentures	204,817	244,437
2015 notes embedded conversion derivative	0	30,291
Fair Value [Member] | Interest Rate Caps [Member]
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	1,492	2,778
Fair Value [Member] | Interest Rate Swap [Member]
Liabilities
Interest rate derivative liabilities	4,528	2,644
Fair Value [Member] | Fixed Maturity Securities [Member]
Assets
Available for sale securities	35,389,842	32,445,202
Held for investment	62,000	75,838
Fair Value [Member] | Equity Securities [Member]
Assets
Available for sale securities	$ 7,833	$ 7,805

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