GUARDIAN LAUNCHES PRE-PAID MASTERCARD® DEBIT CARD AND WEB TOOLS TO FACILITATE USE OF HEALTHCAREFLEXIBLE SPENDING ACCOUNTS (FSA)

Clients Can Pay for Eligible Healthcare Expenses Including: Drug Prescriptions, Eyeglasses and Medical Co-payments Using Debit Cards linked to FSA accounts

FSA Account Information is Easily Accessible Online

NEW YORK, May 30, 2007 — The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian), a leading provider of employee benefits, introduced a debit card and web tools as part of its FlexPlan Flexible Spending Account program which enables clients to access and manage FSA accounts easily.

Clients can pay for eligible healthcare expenses with the Benny Pre-paid MasterCard card. According to a report issued by Celent, LLC, debit cards linked to flexible-spending accounts (FSAs) are a hot growth market in the benefits administration marketplace with 6 million cards in circulation in 2006, up 50% from the previous year.

Guardian's FlexPlan offers employees point of service access to money they set aside in their FSA, minimizing steps of substantiating claims with receipts and waiting for FSA reimbursements via mail. Clients can pay for co-payments, deductibles, prescriptions, eyeglasses and other eligible healthcare expenses with just one swipe of their Benny debit card.

Prior to FSA debit card options, plan members paid for health care expenses out of pocket and after deductions were already made from the employee's paycheck to fund the FSA. Additional paperwork was required for employees to be reimbursed for expenses. This process often makes flexible spending accounts a valuable but, underused benefit. Celent research shows that FSA debit cards increase the average deposit employees place in their account by as much as 30%.

"The Benny pre-paid MasterCard® debit card is a fast and easy way for employees to access money they've set aside in their FSA," said Steve Toby, Director, Worksite Planning for Guardian. "Administering a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) has never been easier. The Benny pre-paid MasterCard® debit card gives our brokers a competitive advantage and underscores our commitment to offer small and midsize businesses a growing range of value-added services to support our medical, dental, life, disability and vision products, all of which, excluding medical, are available on an a voluntary employee-pay-all basis."

In addition to the added convenience of FSA debit cards, plan holders and their members have real-time access to their plan and account information 24 hours a day online through www.GuardianAnytime.com.

Employers can manage their FSA offerings by accessing Guardian Anytime to:

Employees can access GuardianAnytime to:

For more information, contact Guardian's FlexPlan Customer Service at 1-866-359-4542

About Guardian

Founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY (Guardian) is one of the largest mutual life insurance companies in the United States. As of December 31, 2006, Guardian and its subsidiaries had $39.5 billion in assets (on a consolidated statutory basis). With more than 5,000 employees and 3,000 financial representatives, as well as more than 80 agencies nationwide, Guardian and its subsidiaries protect individuals, businesses, and their employees with life, disability, health, long-term care, and dental insurance products, and offer 401(k), annuities and other financial products and trust services. More information about Guardian can be obtained at: www.guardianlife.com.

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