Washington National, which markets and distributes supplemental health (including specified disease, accident and hospital indemnity insurance products) and life insurance to middle-income consumers at home and at the worksite. These products are marketed through PMA and through independent marketing organizations and insurance agencies including worksite marketing. The products being marketed are underwritten by Washington National. This segment's business also includes certain closed blocks of annuities and Medicare supplement policies which are no longer being actively marketed by this segment and were primarily issued or acquired by Washington National.
The following summarizes our earnings for the three years ending December 31, 2015 (dollars in millions, except per share data):
Total premium collections were $2,491.3 million in 2015, up .4 percent from 2014, and $2,482.3 million in 2014, up 2.1 percent from 2013. See "Premium Collections" for further analysis of Bankers Life's premium collections.
This segment's results are significantly impacted by the accounting standard related to deferred acquisition costs. We are not able to defer most of Colonial Penn's direct response advertising costs although such costs generate predictable sales and future inforce profits. We plan to continue to invest in this segment's business, including the development of new products and markets. The amount of our investment in new business during a particular period will have a significant impact on this segment's results. We expect this segment to report earnings (before net realized investment gains (losses) and income taxes) in 2016 in the range of breakeven to $6 million, but because of the seasonality of the advertising spend, we expect a loss in the $8 million to $10 million range in the first quarter of 2016. The range of earnings we expect to report in 2016 reflects uncertainty related to how the U.S. presidential election will impact the cost of television advertising.
Loss on extinguishment or modification of debt in 2015 of $32.8 million consisted of: (i) $15.0 million related to the write-off of unamortized discount and issuance costs due to the repayment of our Previous Senior Secured Credit Agreement and the 6.375% Senior Secured Notes due October 2020 (the "6.375% Notes"); and (ii) a make-whole redemption premium of $17.8 million due to the repayment of the 6.375% Notes. The loss on extinguishment of debt of $.6 million in 2014 resulted from: (i) expenses related to the amendment of the Previous Senior Secured Credit Agreement in May 2014; and (ii) the repurchase of the remaining $3.5 million principal amount of the 7.0% Debentures for a purchase price of $3.7 million. The loss on extinguishment of debt of $65.4 million in 2013 resulted from: (i) the Offer and repurchase of 7.0% Debentures, the write-off of unamortized discount and issuance costs associated with the 7.0% Debentures that were repurchased and other transaction costs; and (ii) expenses related to the amendment of our Previous Senior Secured Credit Agreement and the write-off of unamortized discount and issuance costs associated with prepayments on the Previous Senior Secured Credit Agreement. These transactions are further discussed in the note to the consolidated financial statements entitled "Notes Payable - Direct Corporate Obligations".
Level 1 - includes assets and liabilities valued using inputs that are unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities. Our Level 1 assets primarily include cash and exchange traded securities.
Includes benefits expected to be paid pursuant to our deferred compensation plan and postretirement plans based on numerous actuarial assumptions and interest credited at 4.50 percent.
On May 11, 2015, Moody's upgraded the financial strength ratings of our primary insurance subsidiaries to "Baa1" from "Baa2" and the outlook for these ratings is stable. On March 27, 2014, Moody's upgraded the financial strength ratings of our primary insurance subsidiaries to "Baa2" from "Baa3". Moody’s financial strength ratings range from "Aaa" to "C". These ratings may be supplemented with numbers "1", "2", or "3" to show relative standing within a category. In Moody's view, an insurer rated "Baa" offers adequate financial security, however, certain protective elements may be lacking or may be characteristically unreliable over any great length of time. Moody's has twenty-one possible ratings. There are seven ratings above the "Baa1" rating of our primary insurance subsidiaries and thirteen ratings that are below the rating.
CDOC holds surplus debentures from CLTX with an aggregate principal amount of $749.6 million. Interest payments on those surplus debentures do not require additional approval provided the RBC ratio of CLTX exceeds 100 percent (but do require prior written notice to the Texas state insurance department). The estimated RBC ratio of CLTX was 393 percent at December 31, 2015. CDOC also holds a surplus debenture from Colonial Penn with a principal balance of $160.0 million. Interest payments on that surplus debenture require prior approval by the Pennsylvania state insurance department. Dividends and other payments from our non-insurance subsidiaries, including 40|86 Advisors and CNO Services, to CNO or CDOC do not require approval by any regulatory authority or other third party. However, insurance regulators may prohibit payments by our insurance subsidiaries to parent companies if they determine that such payments could be adverse to our policyholders or contractholders.
charges for policy administration, cost of insurance charges and surrender charges assessed against policyholders' account balances. Such revenues are recognized when the service or coverage is provided, or when the policy is surrendered.
At December 31, 2015, we held investments in various limited partnerships, in which we are not the primary beneficiary, totaling $76.9 million (classified as other invested assets). At December 31, 2015, we had unfunded commitments to these partnerships of $82.2 million. Our maximum exposure to loss on these investments is limited to the amount of our investment.
In addition to our borrowings from the FHLB, we may enter into repurchase agreements to increase our investment return as part of our investment strategy as further discussed in the note to the consolidated financial statements entitled
from consolidation guidance for certain investment funds. The guidance will be effective for the Company for interim and annual periods beginning in 2016. A reporting entity may apply the guidance using a modified retrospective approach by recording a cumulative-effect adjustment to equity as of the beginning of the annual period of adoption. A reporting entity may also apply the guidance retrospectively to all relevant prior periods. The adoption of this guidance is not expected to have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
prior to impairment. The remaining noncredit impairment typically represents changes in the market interest rates, current market liquidity and risk premiums. As of December 31, 2015, other-than-temporary impairments included in accumulated other comprehensive income totaled $4.9 million (before taxes and related amortization).
The following table provides the carrying value and estimated fair value of our outstanding mortgage loans and the underlying collateral as of December 31, 2015 (dollars in millions):
Based on our assessment, it appears more likely than not that $946.6 million of our total deferred tax assets of $1,160.1 million will be realized through future taxable earnings. Accordingly, we have established a deferred tax valuation allowance of $213.5 million at December 31, 2015. We will continue to assess the need for a valuation allowance in the future. If future results are less than projected, an increase to the valuation allowance may be required to reduce the deferred tax asset, which could have a material impact on our results of operations in the period in which it is recorded.
A summary of the Company's stock option activity and related information for 2013 is presented below (shares in thousands; dollars in millions, except per share amounts):
The grant date fair value of the performance units awarded was $9.4 million and $5.2 million in 2015 and 2014, respectively. We recognized compensation expense of $5.3 million, $4.7 million and $3.4 million in 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively, related to the performance units.
Insurance regulators may prohibit the payment of dividends or other payments by our insurance subsidiaries to parent companies if they determine that such payment could be adverse to our policyholders or contract holders. Otherwise, the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends is subject to state insurance department regulations. Insurance regulations generally permit dividends to be paid from statutory earned surplus of the insurance company without regulatory approval for any 12-month period in amounts equal to the greater of (or in a few states, the lesser of): (i) statutory net gain from operations
During 2015, the VIEs recognized net realized investment losses of $17.7 million, which were comprised of $1.3 million of net losses from the sales of fixed maturities, and $16.4 million of writedowns of investments for other than temporary declines in fair value recognized through net income. During 2014, the VIEs recognized net realized investment losses of $2.2 million from the sales of fixed maturities. During 2013, the VIEs recognized net realized investment losses of $1.6 million, which were comprised of $.5 million of net losses from the sales of fixed maturities, and $1.1 million of writedowns of investments for other than temporary declines in fair value recognized through net income.