BOSTON, Nov. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Life Insurance Company (John Hancock) announces it is now selling Partnership-qualified long term care insurance policies in Florida. Under the Partnership program, Florida policyholders can protect their assets -- equal to the dollar value of the benefits paid out of their long term care insurance policy -- when qualifying for LTC services under Medicaid.

"We are pleased that Florida has decided to opt into an LTC Partnership program following the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) last year," said Laura Moore, president, Long Term Care Insurance. "These policies make long term care insurance even more meaningful to a broader portion of the population."

Along with the new partnership regulations, the State of Florida has required that all producers selling long term care insurance, regardless of whether the policies sold are considered Partnership-qualified, take the 8-hour NAIC training certification prior to December 31, 2007.

John Hancock is following suit, requiring that all Partnership business be written by a producer who already is certified. John Hancock has made training available so that producers are able to comply:

  -- Live NAIC classroom training with Tom Orr of National Long Term Care
     Partners (visit www.nltcp.com for more information and registration)

  -- NAIC 8-hour online training through America's Health Insurance Plans
    (AHIP), available through www.jhltc.com

Moore continued, "At John Hancock we believe it is important to make available high quality training sessions in each state in which Partnership policies are being introduced to help producers fully understand the Partnership concept and make it easy for them to meet the new training requirements that may apply where they sell."

About John Hancock Long Term Care Insurance

Today, John Hancock, a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, is one of the largest providers of LTC insurance overall with more than 1,000,000 LTCI clients and $1.4 billion of in-force LTCI premium and more than $1 billion in LTC claims paid.

Having entered the retail LTC insurance market in 1987, John Hancock is one of the largest carriers of individual coverage in the country. John Hancock began selling group LTC insurance in 1988 and today is the largest provider of employer-sponsored LTC insurance in the U.S.

About John Hancock and Manulife Financial

John Hancock is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation (the Company), a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and in most of Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$399 billion (US$398 billion) as at September 30, 2007.

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.

The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, fixed and variable annuities, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at www.johnhancock.com.

Long Term Care Insurance is underwritten by John Hancock Life Insurance Company, Boston, MA 02117.

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Source: John Hancock Long Term Care Insurance

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