BOSTON, Jan. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- John Hancock Life Insurance Company Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance has developed a Marketing Tool Kit with new materials and tools to help market Leading Edge, its newest LTC insurance product. The new materials are designed to make prospecting and sales easier for advisors, whether they are frequent or occasional sellers.

"The aim of this marketing program is to build on recent sales momentum with a variety of new materials supporting our popular new product," said Laura Vail Wooster, assistant vice president of Marketing, John Hancock Long Term Care. "Whether producers sell one policy a week, or one policy a year, we want them to know Leading Edge is easy to sell, and we're working to enhance their sales efforts."

New brochures

John Hancock has updated the look and feel of Leading Edge marketing materials. The company also has enhanced product brochures to include the new Guaranteed Increase Option that provides clients who have automatic inflation coverage with the opportunity to increase their current policy benefit amount every three years by 10 percent without underwriting. The tool kit also includes a number of marketing support pieces that focus on specific innovative features of Leading Edge, such as Caregiver Support Services Benefit and Automatic Inflation Coverage.(1)

New customizable prospecting program

To help advisors further maximize sale opportunities, John Hancock has created a program so they now are able to customize and order affordable prospecting materials online. The program consists of postcards and seminar invitations that range from $0.10 to $0.18 (not including postage) and will include additional prospecting materials in the future. The program also includes a brochure that provides tips and techniques to help advisors generate leads through direct mail prospecting.

New website -- www.discoverleadingedge.com

To further support advisors, the company has introduced a microsite that makes it easy to find the information they need to learn about and market Leading Edge to their clients. It includes training materials, consumer brochures and prospecting tools.

Leading Edge

Geared to the needs and budgets of Baby Boomers, Leading Edge has industry-first features that significantly reduce both the expense and complexity of buying LTC insurance.

One of Leading Edge's groundbreaking benefits was its automatic inflation feature. In Leading Edge, Hancock simplified and reduced the cost of inflation coverage -- with built-in, compound inflation protection linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Every year on the policy anniversary, a policy owner's benefit and total pool of money is automatically adjusted according to the CPI which has a strong association with housing and labor costs, two of the key drivers of long-term care costs today and in the future. When the CPI increases -- even during periods of the highest inflation -- the insured's benefits increase accordingly.

So for example, if we enter a period of high double-digit inflation as happens periodically, Leading Edge's policy benefits will match that rate of inflation, staying far more meaningful and relevant over time than the traditional fixed inflation options. And should the CPI decrease, which hasn't happened in over 50 years, the policy benefits stay level.

2007 Enhancements

One of the enhancements announced on Leading Edge in 2007 was the addition of a Guaranteed Increase Option (GIO) on the product's automatic inflation coverage linked to the CPI, giving clients the flexibility to increase their benefits for any reason. Leading Edge has also become the main product platform for John Hancock's popular multi-life program, Corporate Solutions, with its streamlined design finding great appeal in the employer-sponsored market. In addition, substandard underwriting classes also were introduced.

Other Product Benefits

As an alternative to lifetime coverage, John Hancock developed a new benefit period for Leading Edge: 5 Years Plus $1 Million Dollars. The less expensive option is designed for consumers who anticipate needing long term care for a long time. If the pool of money from a policyholder's 5-year benefit period runs out, an additional $1 million is added to the pool, allaying concerns about outliving financial resources.

Another feature of Leading Edge geared specifically to Baby Boomers is the Caregiver Support Services Benefit. Because younger buyers will likely be called upon to provide care for parents and other older relatives before they need care themselves, this benefit provides support during what can be a very stressful time. Benefits include personalized telephone and website assistance regarding caregiving questions or concerns, access to quality reports and ratings on more than 90,000 nursing home and assisted living facilities nationwide, and exclusive provider discounts and care advisory services for family members that can help them to save between 7 and 35 percent on the cost of long term care provider services.

Leading Edge also has expanded home health care services, which consumers find very appealing. The total homemaker services benefit includes household duties, such as laundry, meal preparation, paying bills, and having someone to watch over the policyholder when taking medications. This benefit expands traditional home health care coverage to include non-medical support services, so the insured can remain at home for as long as possible.

Leading Edge is now available in 48 states(2).

About John Hancock Long Term Care Insurance

John Hancock, a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, is one of the largest providers of LTC insurance overall with more than 1,000,000 LTC insurance clients, $1.4 billion of in-force LTC insurance premium and $1 billion in LTC insurance claims paid as of September 30, 2007.

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 group 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$399.0 billion (US$400.5 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

(1) Product Features may vary by state.

(2) Leading Edge will be available to sell in Indiana on January 28 and in

Pennsylvania on March 10, 2008. Not available in California.

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