American Income Life Insurance Company
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Life insurance |
| Founded | 1951 |
| Headquarters | Waco, Texas , United States |
Area served | United States (49 states and D.C.), Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland |
Key people | Harold Goodman (founding president), Bernard Rapoport (founding executive vice president) |
| Products | Supplemental life insurance |
| Parent | Globe Life |
American Income Life Insurance Company (AIL) operates as a unionized American life insurance enterprise utilizing a multi-level marketing model to deliver supplemental life insurance products specifically to labor unions, credit unions, and various associations.
Since its inception in 1951, AIL has maintained its corporate headquarters in Waco, Texas from 1959 onward. The company holds licenses to operate in 49 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and New Zealand. It controls two subsidiaries: National Income Life Insurance Company, authorized in New York, and Union Heritage Life Assurance Company Limited, licensed within the Republic of Ireland.
By 2013, AIL serviced in excess of two million policyholders and functions as a fully owned subsidiary of Globe Life, which is based in McKinney, Texas.
History
American Income was established in 1951 as a mutual assessment association in Indiana, initially capitalized with $25,000 obtained through borrowing. The company’s reinsurance arrangement was with American Standard Insurance Company. Its founding leaders included president Harold Goodman and executive vice president Bernard Rapoport, who was Goodman’s nephew. The original headquarters were located in Indianapolis, Indiana.
In 1961, the company introduced supplemental insurance products designed for labor unions, including benefits such as premium waivers during authorized labor strikes—a feature that remained active through 2021. Additionally, AIL initiated a scholarship program to support the children of union members and made financial contributions to strike funds. As the sole fully unionized insurer at that time, it adopted the tagline “Be Union-Buy Union.” By 1963, annual revenues had grown to an estimated $6–7 million.
In 1994, American Income Life was purchased by Torchmark Corporation for $563 million. After Torchmark underwent rebranding, AIL became part of the Globe Life family of companies.