Insurance (Guarantees Related to Universal and Variable Life Contracts) (Details) - Secondary Guarantees - USD ($) $ in Millions	6 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2022	Dec. 31, 2021
Universal Life Contracts
Net Amount at Risk by Product and Guarantee [Line Items]
Total account value (3)	$ 5,391	$ 5,518
Net amount at risk	$ 66,379	$ 67,248
Average attained age of policyholders	68 years	68 years
Variable Life Contracts
Net Amount at Risk by Product and Guarantee [Line Items]
Total account value (3)	$ 1,162	$ 1,448
Net amount at risk	$ 10,498	$ 10,508
Average attained age of policyholders	47 years	47 years

Value of the separate and general accounts corresponding to the specified product, guarantee type and subset of the guarantee.

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	bhl_NetAmountAtRiskByProductAndGuaranteeGeneralAndSeparateAccountValue
Namespace Prefix:	bhl_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NetAmountAtRiskByProductAndGuaranteeLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Net amount at risk, representing the guaranteed benefit in excess of the current account balance corresponding to the specified product, guarantee type and subset of the guarantee.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 80
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (d)(3),(5)
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124508989&loc=d3e19393-158473

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 15
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124504833&loc=d3e7104-158389

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NetAmountAtRiskByProductAndGuaranteeNetAmountAtRisk
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Weighted average attained age of policyholders or contract holders in the specified guarantee type and subset of guarantee class, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 80
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph ((d)(5))
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124508989&loc=d3e19393-158473

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 944
-SubTopic 20
-Section 55
-Paragraph 15
-URI https://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=124504833&loc=d3e7104-158389

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_NetAmountAtRiskByProductAndGuaranteeWeightedAverageAttainedAge1
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=us-gaap_UniversalLifeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_GuaranteedInsuranceContractTypeOfGuaranteeAxis=bhl_SecondaryGuaranteesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ProductOrServiceAxis=us-gaap_VariableLifeMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: