ARI SHAPIRO, host: NPR's business news starts with a bailout request from the insurance industry.</s>ARI SHAPIRO, host: Many of the nation's biggest life insurance companies have been walloped by the credit crisis. So like other industries, they've turned to the federal government for bailout money. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Treasury Department has decided to extend bailout funds to a number of companies, including Prudential and Lincoln National. One problem for the companies: they invest the premiums their customers pay in bonds and other assets. And today, those assets are worth much less than they used to be.
Many of the nation's biggest life insurance companies have been walloped by the credit crisis. Like other industries, they have turned to the government for bailout money. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Treasury Department has decided to extend bailout funds to a number of companies — including Prudential and Lincoln National. Insurance companies invest the premiums their customers pay in bonds and other assets that have lost much of their value.