LOS ANGELES - The federal government has agreed to extend billions in bailout funds to six major life insurers, helping them shore up their capital positions in the wake of major investment losses.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said Thursday that it had been notified by the Treasury Department that it was eligible for $3.4 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Lincoln National Corp., which goes by the name Lincoln Financial Group, said it has been initially cleared for a $2.5 billion injection from TARP's Capital Purchase Program.

Prudential Financial Inc. of Newark, N.J., said it received approval for an undisclosed amount of funds and that it is currently evaluating all options available to the company.

Allstate Corp. of Northbrook, Ill., Minneapolis-based Ameriprise Financial Inc., and Principal Financial Group Inc. of Des Moines, Iowa., also are among insurers receiving preliminary investment approval, Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams confirmed. He declined to disclose the amount of investment each company will receive.

The total capital injection into the six companies will be less than $22 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the situation.

Despite receiving approval, Ameriprise has already turned down the government's offer, saying it has sufficient capital and that its access to potential funding sources is more than adequate.

Shares of the insurers were mixed at midday Friday. Shares of Connecticut-based Hartford Financial rose 16 cents to $14.91, while Lincoln National gained 6 cents to $16.30, Ameriprise added 3 cents to $25.09 and Principal Financial rose 22 cents to $19.08. But shares of Prudential fell $1.18, or 3 percent, to $38.19 and Allstate lost 74 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $24.51.

The $700 billion TARP bailout fund, approved by Congress last year, was originally intended to purchase toxic loans on the books of banks that were inhibiting their ability to make loans. But the fund quickly morphed into a capital backstop fund for banks and was also used by the Treasury Department to make loans to General Motors Corp., Chrysler and insurance giant American International Group Inc.

Life insurers also requested government aid, worried that their balance sheets had became clogged by illiquid assets and escalating liabilities to policy holders who bought in to this decade's explosion in the variable annuities market.

Life insurers own 18 percent of all corporate bonds, so aiding them is consistent with the bailout program's goal of unclogging credit markets.