EMPHESYS unit to serve Canadian firm's U.S. employees via Manulife.

GREEN BAY, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 1995--A unit of EMPHESYS Financial Group Inc. (NYSE: EFG) has reached an agreement with Manulife Financial Group Benefits of Toronto to administer the health plans of U.S.-based employees of several major Canadian companies, EMPHESYS announced today.

Under the arrangement some 11,000 U.S. employees and family members of Canadian companies covered by Manulife will receive the services of Employers Health Insurance Co., the managed care subsidiary of EMPHESYS.

Manulife acquired Confederation Life Insurance Co.'s Canadian group life and health insurance business in September. U.S. employees of the firms whose business was acquired then will have easy-to-use health plans that provide access to Employers Health's managed care arrangements, under the agreement announced today. Employers' managed care arrangements let members purchase care from thousands of physicians and hundreds of hospitals nationwide for less cost.

In addition to health plans, the arrangement makes Employers Health's line of ancillary products available to those employees, including short- and long-term disability insurance, group term life insurance and dental plans. Some of the U.S.-based Manulife members are in self-funded medical plans, for which Employers Health Insurance will provide administrative services. Others are covered by fully insured plans. Manulife will underwrite the risk on those plans, while Employers Health will provide administrative services. In the future, for new Manulife accounts that choose a fully insured health plan for their U.S. employees, Employers Health Insurance will underwrite as well as administer the plans.

Bombardier Inc., Air Canada, and brewer John Labatt Ltd. are among the firms whose U.S. employees' health and benefit plans will receive administrative services from Employers Health Insurance Co. The goal of Employers Health is to help provide a simple way for Canadian companies to offer a wide range of benefits to their U.S. employees, according to Ron Van Thiel, a vice president at the Green Bay, Wis.-based Employers Health.

"As our corporate accounts business grows, this is an exciting development. Our goal with Manulife's Canadian customers will be the same as it has always been for our customers: to make employee benefits easy for businesses and for consumers," Van Thiel said.

Employers Health Insurance is the principal operating unit of EMPHESYS Financial Group of Green Bay, Wis. It focuses on providing managed care medical plans and ancillary benefits to businesses with two to 150 employees nationwide. The company also provides administrative services and managed care access to larger businesses' self-funded health plans in selected markets. Employers Health has 1.1 million members nationwide.

CONTACT: Employers Health Insurance Co., Green Bay

Media inquiries: Jon Drayna, 800/558-4444, Ext. 5725

Investor inquiries: Wayne Micksch, 800/558-4444,

Ext. 5210