BOSTON, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In observance of National Long Term Care Awareness Week (November 4-10), John Hancock Life Insurance Company (John Hancock) has planned a number of activities to promote the value of long term care insurance (LTCI) and encourage greater awareness of LTCI as a key aspect of financial planning.

John Hancock's main focus for Long Term Care Awareness Week is on educating new and occasional LTCI producers of the importance of including LTC insurance in their clients' overall financial plans. During the week, John Hancock will:

    --  Sponsor the American Association of Long Term Care Insurance's
        (AALTCI) new website (www.yourltcsuccess.com) and AALTCI's Producer
        Summit, which will be held in February 2008.

    --  Hold a web seminar series for producers nationwide, offering a
        different web seminar on LTCI every day of National Long Term Care
        Awareness Week. Topics include LTCI 101, designing a policy,
        prospecting for LTCI, the LTCI sales process and getting started
        selling LTCI. The events will be available on demand to all licensed
        producers through the company's website (www.jhltc.com), events will
        also be archived for future viewing.

    --  Introduce new LTCI marketing materials during Long Term Care Awareness
        Week that will help producers prospect for LTCI and 'at a glance'
        charts to help them understand John Hancock's LTCI portfolio of
        products.

    --  Conduct training meetings for financial planners seeking to meet new
        LTCI training requirements in their respective states.

The company also has undertaken a national effort to raise awareness among consumers by sponsoring a recently released educational video produced by Kiplinger's Personal Finance, called "Who Cares? Kiplinger's No-Nonsense Look at Long-term Care and How to Pay for It." Created to educate consumers about basic long term care needs and costs, the video is intended to help individuals and families better prepare to meet the financial challenges of long term care.

An online version of the video can be seen on the John Hancock website, www.johnhancocklongtermcare.com, or on the Kiplinger website, www.Kiplinger.com.

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 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.