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Fair Values of Financial Instruments (Assets and Liabilities Measured on a Recurring Basis by Fair Value Hierarchy) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Interest Rate Caps
Assets
Derivative assets	$ 1,244	$ 415
Fixed Maturity Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	45,822,017	45,372,989
Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Full Faith and Credit
Assets
Available for sale securities	10,962	11,876
Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Sponsored Agencies
Assets
Available for sale securities	1,224,587	1,305,017
Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Municipalities, States and Territories
Assets
Available for sale securities	4,142,257	4,166,812
Fixed Maturity Securities | Foreign Government Obligations
Assets
Available for sale securities	226,500	239,360
Fixed Maturity Securities | Corporate Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	28,479,603	29,878,971
Fixed Maturity Securities | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	1,181,682	1,105,567
Fixed Maturity Securities | Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	5,337,368	5,544,850
Fixed Maturity Securities | Other Asset Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	5,219,058	3,120,536
Equity Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities		292,429
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Assets
Derivative assets	1,290,387	1,568,380
Cash and cash equivalents	1,129,242	1,434,045
Counterparty collateral	179,512	186,108
Assets	48,630,961	48,854,366
Liabilities
Fixed index annuities - embedded derivatives	8,947,193	8,790,427
Liabilities		8,791,216
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Interest Rate Caps
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	1,244	415
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Interest Rate Swap
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	1,125
Liabilities
Interest rate derivative liabilities		789
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Full Faith and Credit
Assets
Available for sale securities	10,962	11,876
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Sponsored Agencies
Assets
Available for sale securities	1,224,587	1,305,017
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Municipalities, States and Territories
Assets
Available for sale securities	4,142,257	4,166,812
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Foreign Government Obligations
Assets
Available for sale securities	226,500	239,360
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Corporate Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	28,479,603	29,878,971
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	1,181,682	1,105,567
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	5,337,368	5,544,850
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Other Asset Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	5,219,058	3,120,536
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Equity Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	207,434	292,429
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Assets
Derivative assets	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	1,129,242	1,434,045
Counterparty collateral	0	0
Assets	1,334,703	1,724,690
Liabilities
Fixed index annuities - embedded derivatives	0	0
Liabilities		0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Interest Rate Caps
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	0	0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Interest Rate Swap
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	0
Liabilities
Interest rate derivative liabilities		0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Full Faith and Credit
Assets
Available for sale securities	5,454	5,640
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Sponsored Agencies
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Municipalities, States and Territories
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Foreign Government Obligations
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Corporate Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	7	5
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Other Asset Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Quoted Prices in Active Markets (Level 1) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Equity Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	200,000	285,000
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Assets
Derivative assets	1,290,387	1,568,380
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Counterparty collateral	179,512	186,108
Assets	47,296,258	47,129,676
Liabilities
Fixed index annuities - embedded derivatives	0	0
Liabilities		789
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Interest Rate Caps
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	1,244	415
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Interest Rate Swap
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	1,125
Liabilities
Interest rate derivative liabilities		789
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Full Faith and Credit
Assets
Available for sale securities	5,508	6,236
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Sponsored Agencies
Assets
Available for sale securities	1,224,587	1,305,017
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Municipalities, States and Territories
Assets
Available for sale securities	4,142,257	4,166,812
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Foreign Government Obligations
Assets
Available for sale securities	226,500	239,360
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Corporate Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	28,479,596	29,878,966
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	1,181,682	1,105,567
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	5,337,368	5,544,850
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Other Asset Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	5,219,058	3,120,536
Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Equity Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	7,434	7,429
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring
Assets
Derivative assets	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Counterparty collateral	0	0
Assets	0	0
Liabilities
Fixed index annuities - embedded derivatives	8,947,193	8,790,427
Liabilities		8,790,427
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Interest Rate Caps
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Interest Rate Swap
Assets
Interest rate derivative assets	0
Liabilities
Interest rate derivative liabilities		0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Full Faith and Credit
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Government Sponsored Agencies
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | United States Municipalities, States and Territories
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Foreign Government Obligations
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Corporate Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Residential Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Fixed Maturity Securities | Other Asset Backed Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	0	0
Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3) | Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring | Equity Securities
Assets
Available for sale securities	$ 0	$ 0

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