| **Settlements**            | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       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| **Settlements [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                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| Settlements                | Settlements:Delaware Settlement—On April 4, 2011, we entered into a definitive settlement and release agreement with the state of Delaware relating to a previously disclosed audit of unclaimed property conducted on behalf of Delaware and two other states by Kelmar Associates, LLC. While the terms of the settlement are confidential, the amount paid to Delaware was less than the amount previously accrued and included in the line item Refunds due patients and other third-party payors in our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2010. Accordingly, we recorded a $25.3 million pre-tax gain in connection with this settlement as part of our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2011. Of this amount, $24.8 million is included in Income from discontinued operations, net of tax, as this gain primarily related to our previously divested divisions. The remainder is included in Net operating revenues in our consolidated statement of operations for the year ended December 31, 2011. See also Note 1,Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, "Refunds due Patients and Other Third-Party Payors."Securities Litigation Settlement—On June 24, 2003, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama consolidated a number of separate securities lawsuits filed against us under the caption In re HealthSouth Corp. Securities Litigation, Master Consolidation File No. CV-03-BE-1500-S (the “Consolidated Securities Action”), which the court divided into two subclasses:•Complaints based on purchases of our common stock were grouped under the caption In re HealthSouth Corp. Stockholder Litigation, Consolidated Case No. CV-03-BE-1501-S (the “Stockholder Securities Action”), which was further divided into complaints based on purchases of our common stock in the open market (grouped under the caption In re HealthSouth Corp. Stockholder Litigation, Consolidated Case No. CV-03-BE-1501-S) and claims based on the receipt of our common stock in mergers (grouped under the caption HealthSouth Merger Cases, Consolidated Case No. CV-98-2777-S). Although the plaintiffs in the HealthSouth Merger Cases have separate counsel and have filed separate claims, the HealthSouth Merger Cases are otherwise consolidated with the Stockholder Securities Action for all purposes.•Complaints based on purchases of our debt securities were grouped under the caption In re HealthSouth Corp. Bondholder Litigation, Consolidated Case No. CV-03-BE-1502-S (the “Bondholder Securities Action”).On January 8, 2004, the plaintiffs in the Consolidated Securities Action filed a consolidated class action complaint. The complaint named us as a defendant, as well as more than 30 of our former employees, officers and directors, the underwriters of our debt securities, and our former auditor. The complaint alleged, among other things, (1) that we misrepresented or failed to disclose certain material facts concerning our business and financial condition and the impact of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 on our operations in order to artificially inflate the price of our common stock, (2) that from January 14, 2002 through August 27, 2002, we misrepresented or failed to disclose certain material facts concerning our business and financial condition and the impact of the changes in Medicare reimbursement for outpatient therapy services on our operations in order to artificially inflate the price of our common stock, and that some of the individual defendants sold shares of such stock during the purported class period, and (3) that Mr. Scrushy instructed certain former senior officers and accounting personnel to materially inflate our earnings to match Wall Street analysts’ expectations, and that senior officers of HealthSouth and other members of a self-described “family” held meetings to discuss the means by which our earnings could be inflated and that some of the individual defendants sold shares of our common stock during the purported class period. The Consolidated Securities Action complaint asserted claims under Sections 11, 12(a)(2) and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and claims under Sections 10(b), 14(a), 20(a) and 20A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.On September 26, 2006, the plaintiffs in the Stockholder Securities Action and the Bondholder Securities Action, HealthSouth, and certain individual former HealthSouth employees and board members entered into and filed a stipulation of partial settlement of this litigation. We also entered into definitive agreements with the lead plaintiffs in these actions and the derivative actions, as well as certain of our insurance carriers, to settle the claims filed in those actions against us and many of our former directors and officers. On September 28, 2006, the United States District Court entered an order preliminarily approving the stipulation and settlement. Following a period to allow class members to opt out of the settlement and for objections to the settlement to be lodged, the court held a hearing on January 8, 2007 and determined the proposed settlement was fair, reasonable and adequate to the class members and that it should receive final approval. An order approving the settlement was entered on January 11, 2007. Individual class members representing approximately 205,000 shares of common stock and one bondholder with a face value of $1.5 million elected to be excluded from the settlement. The order approving the settlement bars claims by the non-settling defendants arising out of or relating to the Stockholder Securities Action, the Bondholder Securities Action, and the derivative litigation but does not prevent other security holders excluded from the settlement from asserting claims directly against us.Under the settlement agreements, federal securities and fraud claims brought in the Consolidated Securities Action against us and certain of our former directors and officers were settled in exchange for aggregate consideration of $445 million, consisting of HealthSouth common stock and warrants valued at $215 million and cash payments by HealthSouth’s insurance carriers of $230 million. In addition, the settlement agreements provided that the plaintiffs in the Stockholder Securities Action and the Bondholder Securities Action will receive 25% of any net recoveries from any judgments obtained by us or on our behalf with respect to certain claims against Mr. Scrushy (excluding the $48 million judgment against Mr. Scrushy on January 3, 2006, as discussed in Note 22,Contingencies and Other Commitments), Ernst & Young LLP, our former auditor, and UBS Securities, our former primary investment bank, each of which after this settlement remained a defendant in the derivative actions as well as the Consolidated Securities Action. The settlement agreements were subject to the satisfaction of a number of conditions, including final approval of the United States District Court and the approval of bar orders in the Consolidated Securities Action and the derivative litigation by the United States District Court and the Alabama Circuit Court that would, among other things, preclude certain claims by the non-settling co-defendants against HealthSouth and the insurance carriers relating to matters covered by the settlement agreements. That approval was obtained on January 11, 2007. Despite approval of the Consolidated Securities Action settlement, there are class members who have elected to opt out of the settlements and pursue claims in separate actions. The settlement agreements also required HealthSouth to indemnify the settling insurance carriers, to the extent permitted by law, for any amounts they are legally obligated to pay to any non-settling defendants. As of December 31, 2011, we have not recorded a liability regarding these indemnifications, as we do not believe it is probable we will have to perform under the indemnification portion of these settlement agreements and any amount we would be required to pay is not estimable at this time.On September 30, 2009, we issued an aggregate of 5,023,732 shares of common stock and 8,151,265 warrants to purchase our common stock in full satisfaction of our obligation to do so under the Consolidated Securities Action settlement. Pursuant to the Consolidated Securities Action settlement and the related court orders, the process for final distribution of the cash and securities to qualified claimants is being handled by counsel for the plaintiffs and the court approved administrator of the settlement fund.In connection with the Consolidated Securities Action settlement, we recorded a charge of $215.0 million as Government, class action, and related settlements in our 2005 consolidated statement of operations. During each quarter subsequent to the initial recording of this liability, we reduced or increased our liability for this settlement based on the value of our common stock and the associated common stock warrants underlying the settlement. During 2009, we recorded a net gain of $37.2 million to Government, class action, and related settlements in our consolidated statement of operations based on the value of our common stock and the associated warrants when the underlying common stock and warrants were issued.UBS Litigation Settlement—In August 2003, claims on behalf of HealthSouth were brought in the Tucker derivative litigation (described below in Note 22, Contingencies and Other Commitments, “Derivative Litigation”) against various UBS entities, alleging that from at least 1998 through 2002, when those entities served as our investment bankers, they breached their duties of care, suppressed information, and aided and abetted in the ongoing fraud. As a result of the UBS defendants' representation that UBS Securities is the proper defendant for all claims asserted in the complaint, UBS Securities became the named defendant in Tucker. The claims alleged that while the UBS entities were our fiduciaries, they became part of a conspiracy to artificially inflate the market price of our stock. The complaint sought compensatory and punitive damages, disgorgement of fees received from us by UBS entities, and attorneys' fees and costs. On August 3, 2005, UBS Securities filed counterclaims against us. Those claims included fraud, misrepresentation, negligence, breach of contract, and indemnity against us for allegedly providing UBS Securities with materially false information concerning our financial condition to induce UBS Securities to provide investment banking services. UBS Securities' counterclaims sought compensatory and punitive damages and a judgment declaring that we were liable for any losses, costs, or fees incurred by UBS Securities in connection with its defense of actions relating to the services UBS Securities provided to us. In August 2006, we and the plaintiffs in Tucker agreed to jointly prosecute the claims against UBS Securities in state court.Additionally, on September 6, 2007, UBS AG filed an action against us in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, captioned UBS AG, Stamford Branch v. HealthSouth Corporation, based on the terms of a credit agreement with MedCenterDirect.com (“MCD”) (the “New York action”). Prior to ceasing operations in 2003, we owned a portion of MCD's equity securities and MCD provided certain services to us relating to the purchase of equipment and supplies. During 2003, UBS AG called its loan to MCD. In the New York action, UBS AG alleged we were the guarantor of the loan and sought recovery of the approximately $20 million principal of its loan to MCD and associated interest. The court issued an order on June 6, 2008 granting UBS AG's motion for summary judgment and denying HealthSouth's motion to dismiss or stay. Following the entry of an initial judgment in the incorrect amount, the court in the New York case entered an amended judgment on June 16, 2008 in the amount of approximately $30.3 million in favor of UBS AG.On January 13, 2009, the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, Alabama entered an order approving the agreement with UBS Securities to settle litigation filed by the derivative plaintiffs on HealthSouth's behalf in the Tucker derivative litigation (the “UBS Settlement”) under which we received $100.0 million in cash and a release of all claims by the UBS entities, including the release and satisfaction of the judgment in favor of UBS AG in the New York action. That order also awarded to the derivative plaintiffs' attorneys fees and expenses of $26.2 million to be paid from the $100.0 million in cash we received. In the fourth quarter of 2008, we received $97.9 million related to the UBS Settlement. The remaining $2.1 million was funded by the applicable insurance carrier in January 2009. UBS Securities and its insurance carriers transferred these amounts to an escrow account designated and controlled by us. These funds were released from escrow in 2009. Pursuant to the Consolidated Securities Action settlement, as discussed above in “Securities Litigation Settlement,” we were obligated to pay 25% of the net settlement proceeds, after deducting all of our costs and expenses in connection with the Tucker derivative litigation including fees and expenses of the derivative counsel and our counsel, to the plaintiffs in the Consolidated Securities Action. The UBS Settlement does not affect our claims against any other defendants in the Tucker derivative litigation, or against HealthSouth's former independent auditor, Ernst & Young, which remain pending in arbitration.As a result of the UBS Settlement, we recorded a $121.3 million gain in our 2008 consolidated statement of operations. This gain was comprised of the $100.0 million cash portion of the settlement plus the principal portion of the loan guarantee. The approximate $9.4 million gain associated with the reversal of the accrued interest on this loan was included in Interest expense and amortization of debt discounts and fees in our 2008 consolidated statement of operations. We recorded the $26.2 million owed to the derivative plaintiffs' attorneys as a charge to Professional fees—accounting, tax, and legal in our 2008 consolidated statement of operations. We paid that amount to the derivative plaintiffs' attorneys in 2009. An estimate of the 25% of the net settlement proceeds to be paid to the plaintiffs in the Consolidated Securities Action is included in Other current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets as of December 31, 2011 and December 31, 2010, with the corresponding charge included in Government, class action, and related settlements in our 2008 consolidated statement of operations. |

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| - Definition
General disclosure describing the Company's settlements relateing to litigation.
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