| **Quarterly Data (Unaudited) (Tables)**                   | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |
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| **Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |   |
| Quarterly Data (Unaudited) Table                          |   2014  First Second Third Fourth Total  (In Millions, Except Per Share Data)Net operating revenues $591.2 $604.4 $596.9 $613.4 $2,405.9Operating earnings (a) 105.8 115.4 100.7 96.5 418.4Provision for income tax expense  32.8 36.5 22.1 19.3 110.7Income from continuing operations 61.6 94.1 65.7 54.8 276.2(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax (0.1) 3.8 (0.9) 2.7 5.5Net income 61.5 97.9 64.8 57.5 281.7Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (14.8) (14.8) (14.7) (15.4) (59.7)Net income attributable to HealthSouth $46.7 $83.1 $50.1 $42.1 $222.0Earnings per common share:          Basic earnings per share attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders: (b)          Continuing operations $0.51 $0.89 $0.56 $0.43 $2.40Discontinued operations — 0.04 (0.01) 0.03 0.06Net income $0.51 $0.93 $0.55 $0.46 $2.46Diluted earnings per share attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders: (b)          Continuing operations $0.48 $0.81 $0.53 $0.41 $2.24Discontinued operations — 0.04 (0.01) 0.03 0.05Net income $0.48 $0.85 $0.52 $0.44 $2.29(a) We define operating earnings as income from continuing operations attributable to HealthSouth before (1) loss on early extinguishment of debt; (2) interest expense and amortization of debt discounts and fees; (3) other income; and (4) income tax expense.(b)  Per share amounts may not sum due to the weighted average common shares outstanding during each quarter compared to the weighted average common shares outstanding during the entire year.  2013  First Second Third Fourth Total  (In Millions, Except Per Share Data)Net operating revenues $572.6 $564.5 $564.0 $572.1 $2,273.2Operating earnings (a) 108.7 101.1 119.0 106.9 435.7Provision for income tax expense (benefit) 33.5 (86.5) 35.2 30.5 12.7Income from continuing operations 66.3 178.9 73.2 64.1 382.5(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax (0.4) 0.1 (0.9) 0.1 (1.1)Net income 65.9 179.0 72.3 64.2 381.4Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (14.6) (13.8) (14.1) (15.3) (57.8)Net income attributable to HealthSouth $51.3 $165.2 $58.2 $48.9 $323.6Earnings (loss) per common share:          Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders: (b)          Continuing operations $0.48 $1.82 $0.61 $(0.31) $2.59Discontinued operations — — (0.01) — (0.01)Net income $0.48 $1.82 $0.60 $(0.31) $2.58Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders: (c)          Continuing operations $0.48 $1.66 $0.59 $(0.31) $2.59Discontinued operations — — (0.01) — (0.01)Net income $0.48 $1.66 $0.58 $(0.31) $2.58 |   2013  First Second Third Fourth Total  (In Millions, Except Per Share Data)Net operating revenues $572.6 $564.5 $564.0 $572.1 $2,273.2Operating earnings (a) 108.7 101.1 119.0 106.9 435.7Provision for income tax expense (benefit) 33.5 (86.5) 35.2 30.5 12.7Income from continuing operations 66.3 178.9 73.2 64.1 382.5(Loss) income from discontinued operations, net of tax (0.4) 0.1 (0.9) 0.1 (1.1)Net income 65.9 179.0 72.3 64.2 381.4Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (14.6) (13.8) (14.1) (15.3) (57.8)Net income attributable to HealthSouth $51.3 $165.2 $58.2 $48.9 $323.6Earnings (loss) per common share:          Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders: (b)          Continuing operations $0.48 $1.82 $0.61 $(0.31) $2.59Discontinued operations — — (0.01) — (0.01)Net income $0.48 $1.82 $0.60 $(0.31) $2.58Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders: (c)          Continuing operations $0.48 $1.66 $0.59 $(0.31) $2.59Discontinued operations — — (0.01) — (0.01)Net income $0.48 $1.66 $0.58 $(0.31) $2.58(a) We define operating earnings as income from continuing operations attributable to HealthSouth before (1) loss on early extinguishment of debt; (2) interest expense and amortization of debt discounts and fees; (3) other income; and (4) income tax expense or benefit.(b)  Per share amounts may not sum due to the weighted average common shares outstanding during each quarter compared to the weighted average common shares outstanding during the entire year.(c) During the first quarter of 2013, adding back the dividends for the Convertible perpetual preferred stock to our Income from continuing operations attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders causes a per share increase when calculating diluted earnings per common share resulting in an antidilutive per share amount. For the fourth quarter of 2013, adding back amounts related to the repurchase of our preferred stock to our Income from continuing operations attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders causes a per share increase when calculating diluted earnings per common share resulting in an antidilutive per share amount. Therefore, basic and diluted earnings (loss) per common share are the same for these quarters. |

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| - Definition
Tabular disclosure of the quarterly financial data in the annual financial statements. The disclosure includes financial information for each fiscal quarter for the current and previous year, including revenues, gross profit, income (loss) before extraordinary items and cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle and earnings per share data.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 270 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -Subparagraph (a)-(j) -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=35737889&loc=d3e1280-108306
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