2009 News Releases

• Sponsors New LTC Planning Workbook developed by Kiplinger’s
• Enhances Consumer Website with Educational Tools and Information
• Plans Release of New LTC Survey Results

Boston – John Hancock Life Insurance Company today announced a new campaign, called Know Your Options, aimed at educating consumers about long-term care (LTC) issues and options by providing them with a variety of resources to help them take the next step in preparing for their future. The campaign consists of several key initiatives debuting over the course of the next few months and kicks off this week with the release of a new LTC planning booklet created by the editors of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine and the launch of John Hancock’s enhanced consumer LTC insurance website.

Following the successful sponsorship of the Kiplinger’s educational video on long-term care in 2008, John Hancock is proud to announce that it is sponsoring a new LTC Planning Workbook developed by Kiplinger’s. Available to John Hancock LTC insurance representatives this week, “The Next Step: A Kiplinger Workbook to Help You Plan Ahead for Long-Term Care” looks at the basics of long-term care, the costs of long-term care, and how to research your options for coverage.

“As the U.S. population ages, long-term care is quickly becoming one of the critical issues of our time,” said Marianne Harrison, President and General Manager of John Hancock Long-Term Care Insurance. “As a highly regarded source of objective financial advice, Kiplinger’s has done a wonderful job of clearly explaining the issues around long-term care and the steps a person might take to plan ahead. We are honored to sponsor this booklet as part of our Know Your Options campaign and hope that consumers and their advisors will find it to be a useful tool in the planning process.”

Also part of its Know Your Options campaign, John Hancock launched today an enhanced long-term care website for consumers ( www.johnhancockLTC.com) with a new suite of educational tools and resources, messaging that calls attention to the importance of long-term care planning and a better design to enhance user experience.

For those seeking general knowledge and background on the topic of long-term care, the website includes content on the benefits of planning as well as links to industry websites and general articles. It also offers multi-media planning tools including a LTC insurance premium estimator, an online quiz to test LTC knowledge, and a link to “Kiplinger’s No-Nonsense Look at Long-Term Care” video which offers an educational overview of long-term care issues. Also posted on the site is John Hancock’s Cost of Care Map and report that reflects the costs of care in a variety of settings in more than 270 cities across the U.S. and shows how average costs are rising in line with inflation.

“Today more and more people are using the internet to begin their research on important topics, such as financial planning,” said Harrison. “Our enhanced website is designed to help educate consumers about long-term care issues and options, with easy-to-use tools and resources to get them started.”

The third prong of the Know Your Options educational campaign consists of the release of several consumer and employer surveys over the next few months. The results of the first survey on the attitudes toward LTC of more than 500 small business owners and benefits managers will be announced in the coming weeks. The survey is part of John Hancock’s overall effort to dispel the many misconceptions about LTC, held by employers and employees alike.

About John Hancock Long-Term Care Insurance
John Hancock is one of the largest providers of LTC insurance overall with more than 1,000,000 LTC insurance clients and $1.5 billion of in-force LTC insurance premium.¹ The company holds $9.4 billion in LTC insurance reserves for future claims² and has paid $2.2 billion in LTC claims.³ Having entered the retail LTC insurance market in 1987, John Hancock is one of the largest carriers of individual coverage in the country.⁴ 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.⁵ More information about long-term care issues and insurance products can be found at www.johnhancockLTC.com.

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 $405.3 billion (U.S. $321.7 billion) as at March 31, 2009. Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘945’ 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, fixed products, 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 and in New York by John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company, Boston, MA 02117.

^{1As of December 31, 2008, according to internal financial records.
2As of December 31, 2008, according to internal financial records inclusive of active and claims reserves for individual and group long-term care insurance.
3Based on John Hancock internal data as of 12/31/08. Total includes individual and group long-term care insurance and 50% of the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program.
4LIMRA International, U.S. Individual Long-Term Care Insurance Sales Survey, Fourth Quarter YTD 2008.
5LIMRA International, U. S. Group Long-Term Care Insurance Sales Survey, Fourth Quarter YTD 2008.}

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Contact:
Melissa Berczuk
Phone: (617) 663-4750
E-mail: mberczuk@jhancock.com