Document and Entity Information	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2012	May 04, 2012
Document and Entity Information
Entity Registrant Name	Independence Holding Company
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Mar. 31, 2012
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0000701869
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		17,991,661
Entity Filer Category	Non-accelerated Filer
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1