BOSTON, Sept. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- John Hancock Life Insurance Company today announced it is offering a new, CE-approved long term care (LTC) insurance training course in states coming on board with new Partnership policies. The 8-hour course is intended to meet all NAIC and state requirements. Most states are requiring that all producers take this kind of training in order to sell LTC insurance, whether or not they are planning to sell Partnership policies.

The course is being conducted by independent Partnership expert Tom Orr of National LTC Partnership Educators, LLC. Mr. Orr has been providing Partnership training in California for more than a decade and has trained more than 15,000 agents. He also has been a sought-after Partnership expert elsewhere.

The course, open to all LTC insurance distributors, will be offered in each new Partnership state, for a cost of $50. As an incentive, John Hancock is offering to refund the course fee to producers who submit two John Hancock LTC insurance applications within 60 days of the class. (Please note that the training is not applicable to the grandfathered Partnership states: California, Connecticut, Indiana and New York).

Courses are currently scheduled in Florida, Virginia, Idaho and Oregon through October. More information on dates and locations is available at http://www.nltcp.com/ . Over the next year, as new courses are scheduled, information will be added to the Website.

"We are pleased that states are beginning to opt into LTC Partnership programs following the passage of the DRA last year," said Laura Moore, president, Long Term Care Insurance. "As a carrier, we believe it is important to make available high quality training sessions to help producers fully understand the Partnership concept and make it easy for them to meet the new training requirements that apply in each state. Tom Orr is the perfect person for this job with his extensive experience and credentials in our business."

Early classes in Virginia and Florida were sold out and very well received. "Tom did a great job of explaining the information and providing insight on how to market and sell Partnership products," said David Balaban, Frieden Agency, John Hancock Financial Network (1).

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$410 billion (US$386 billion) as at June 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 http://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 http://www.johnhancock.com/ .

John Hancock's primary insurance subsidiaries carry the highest -- "AAA" -- financial strength rating from Standard & Poor's Ratings Services.

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

(1) A servicemark of John Hancock Life Insurance Company and its affiliated companies including Signator Investors, Inc., a broker dealer and registered investment advisor.

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Source: John Hancock Life Insurance Company

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