Further withdrawals from the policy were taken out principal first, rather than gain first and so tax free withdrawals of at least some portion of the value were an option. (en.wikipedia.org)
On Tuesday, Humana (hum)(whose planed merger with Aetna was just scuttled) announced further withdrawals from Obamacare. (fortune.com)
IIRC the only penalty for exceeding it is the bank has to close the account, but I wouldn't be surprised if instead they just restrict further withdrawals. (money.stackexchange.com)