Related Party Transactions Intercompany related dividends paid (Details) - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014
Citizens Inc. Stock Investment Plan [Member]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Related Party Transaction, Value of Shares Purchased		$ 0.4
Related Party Transaction, Expenses from Transactions with Related Party		$ 0.1
SPLIC subsidiary of CICA [Domain]
Related Party Transaction [Line Items]
Cash Dividends Paid to Parent Company by Consolidated Subsidiaries	$ 1.8

Related Party Transaction, Value of Shares Purchased

No definition available.

Name:	cia_RelatedPartyTransactionValueOfSharesPurchased
Namespace Prefix:	cia_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

This element represents disclosure of the aggregate cash dividends paid to the entity by consolidated subsidiaries.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 235
-SubTopic 10
-Section S99
-Paragraph 3
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-04.(b))
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=26873400&loc=d3e24072-122690

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 942
-SubTopic 235
-Section S99
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (SX 210.9-06)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6882215&loc=d3e537971-122884

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_CashDividendsPaidToParentCompanyByConsolidatedSubsidiaries
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Expenses recognized resulting from transactions (excluding transactions that are eliminated in consolidated or combined financial statements) with related party.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 850
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6457730&loc=d3e39549-107864

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionExpensesFromTransactionsWithRelatedParty
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=cia_CitizensIncStockInvestmentPlanMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RelatedPartyTransactionsByRelatedPartyAxis=cia_SplicSubsidiaryOfCicaDomain
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: