Document and Entity Information - USD ($) $ in Thousands	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2016	Nov. 07, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016
Document and Entity Information
Entity Registrant Name	Independence Holding Company
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2016
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0000701869
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		17,067,875
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Entity Public Float			$ 131,292
Trading Symbol	ihc