Principal

Public facts

Group dental, vision, life, disability, and supplemental

Principal group benefits for dental, vision, life, STD/LTD, accident, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and PFML, with published size bands from 2 to 5,000 employees.

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Overview

Principal Financial Group sells U.S. group insurance that public financial-professional pages list as eight products: dental, short- and long-term disability, life, vision, hospital indemnity, critical illness, and accident, with paid family and medical leave in select states. Employer-paid, voluntary, and (for dental) self-funded options have published enrollment bands (for example employer-paid 2–5,000 enrolled; voluntary 5–5,000 eligible; self-funded dental 100–5,000). Principal states it serves nearly 140,000 U.S. companies, covers more than 5.1 million employees and dependents, and ranks as the no. 2 provider of group benefits (Principal, results as of 4Q 2024, citing LIMRA workplace surveys).

Why it matters Principal publishes explicit product-by-funding size bands and a no. 2 group-benefits ranking—useful when checking whether a case fits the appetite.

Target buyer: Primarily groups in the 2–500 employee range Principal highlights, plus larger cases up to the published 5,000-life bands, and the advisors who package Principal ancillary.
Pricing model: Quoted group premium; employer-paid, employee-paid, or hybrid; self-funded dental ASO where offered; No public rate card. Minimum participation and add-on rules are published (examples: two employees if sold with another coverage; five if standalone for some lines; hospital/critical/accident packaging rules; Massachusetts dental minimum 25).
Availability: National
Research: Last researched 2026-08-23; Public facts category

Key features

Group dental (PPO in all states; pre-paid in select states)
Group vision
Group term and voluntary term life, optional AD&D and dependent life (life page: employer-paid up to $1 million; voluntary up to $500,000)
Short-term and long-term disability (STD marketed with an “own job” definition)
Accident, critical illness, and hospital indemnity (some must be sold with another coverage)
Paid family and medical leave administration in select states
Self-funded dental for 100+ employees when paired with at least one insured coverage

Integrations

Principal digital tools for claims, IDs, and coverage (named at a high level on group pages)
Financial-professional / advisor distribution

Overview

Principal’s group-benefits pages (principal.com businesses and finpro) describe a multi-line workplace portfolio aimed mainly at 2–500 employee groups, with published maximums up to 5,000 enrolled/eligible depending on the product and funding type. Principal also sells business-owner life/disability and nonqualified deferred compensation; those are adjacent, not this ancillary SKU list.

Ranking and scale (Principal, 4Q 2024): no. 2 group-benefits provider covering more than 5.1 million employees and dependents, based on LIMRA 2023 workplace in-force surveys (April 2024 citation on the insurance page). Nearly 140,000 U.S. companies are cited on the same page.

Key Capabilities

Dental: employer-paid, voluntary, or self-funded (self-funded 100–5,000 enrolled and at least one insured coverage). PPO in all states; prepaid DHMO-style in select states.
Vision, life, STD, LTD on employer-paid schedules (two lives with another coverage, or five standalone, per the finpro table).
Hospital indemnity, critical illness, accident with “must be sold with another coverage” and New York specified-disease wording for some products.
PFML: state-approved private plans in select states.
Life amounts published on the group life page (see key features). Conversion available when employment ends.
GSI disability and GI life for key employees (insurance page).

Integrations & Ecosystem

Advisor-distributed. Digital member/employer tools are mentioned without a full API partner list.

Pricing

Quoted. Packaging and participation rules affect eligibility more than a public price.

Notes & Limitations

Table footnotes matter (MA dental minimum, NY specified disease, self-funded dental pairing).
No. 2 ranking is Principal’s LIMRA-based claim as of 4Q 2024.
Recorded as National; prepaid dental and PFML are not all-state.

Sources

Tags: Principal · group dental · disability · life · vision · PFML