The six big US insurers to have got the federal government approval for a nearly $22 billion cash injection from the TARP - Troubled Asset Relief Program - have largely embraced the decision that would help them buttress their capital positions following some big investment losses.

The insurers - Hartford Financial, Lincoln Financial, Prudential Financial, Allstate Corp, Ameriprise Financial, and Principal Financial - have received the Treasury preliminary approval of the funds, after they requested for government aid put of their foreseeable worries about their balance sheets becoming clogged by illiquid assets and mounting liabilities to policy holders.

While the Treasury Department notified Hartford on Thursday about its eligibility for $3.4 billion from the $700 billion TARP bailout fund; Lincoln Financial was told that it has been primarily cleared for a $2.5 billion capital infusion.

Prudential Financial said that it had been granted approval for an undisclosed amount of funds; as did Allstate, Ameriprise, and Principal Financial. Since the life insurers own 18 percent of all corporate bonds, extending the requisite aid to them is consistent with the TARP bailout program's objective of freeing the clogged credit markets.

Moreover, with the insurers seeing their investment portfolios knocked by dwindling stocks, real estate and other financial assets, a plunge below the 'crucial' capital levels would have likely resulted in costly downgrades from ratings agencies.