Document and Entity Information - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Mar. 06, 2020	Jun. 30, 2019
Details
Registrant CIK	0000701869
Fiscal Year End	--12-31
Registrant Name	INDEPENDENCE HOLDING COMPANY
SEC Form	10-K/A
Period End date	Dec. 31, 2019
Trading Symbol	IHC
Trading Exchange	NYSE
Tax Identification Number (TIN)	58-1407235
Number of common stock shares outstanding		14,850,921
Public Float			$ 192,788
Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Current with reporting	Yes
Interactive Data Current	Yes
Voluntary filer	No
Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Shell Company	false
Small Business	true
Emerging Growth Company	false
Amendment Description	The registrant is filing this Amendment No. 1 to Annual Report on Form 10-K/A (this “Amendment”) to amend the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 (Commission File Number 001-32244) (the “2019 Annual Report”), as filed by the registrant with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 13, 2020. This Amendment No. 1 on Form 10-K/A is being filed solely for the purpose of including a reference to the year ended December 31, 2018 in the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, which reference was inadvertently omitted from the initial filing. As a consequence, the Consent of Independent Registered Accounting Firm has also been updated to reference the 10K/A Amendment No. 1 and is filed as exhibit 23.2 attached hereto. In addition, as required by Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, new certifications by the registrant’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer are filed as exhibits to this Amendment. Except as otherwise expressly noted herein there have been no changes in any of the financial or other disclosure information contained in the 2019 Annual Report. This Amendment does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the original report (i.e., those events occurring after March 13, 2020) or modify or update those disclosures that may be affected by subsequent events. Accordingly, this Amendment should be read in conjunction with the 2019 Annual Report and the registrant’s other filings with the SEC.
Document Annual Report	true
Document Transition Report	false
Entity File Number	001-32244
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Entity Address, Address Line One	96 CUMMINGS POINT ROAD
Entity Address, City or Town	STAMFORD
Entity Address, State or Province	CT
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	06902
City Area Code	203
Local Phone Number	358-8000
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock, $1.00 par value
Amendment Flag	true
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2019
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY