| **Quarterly Data (Unaudited) (Tables)**                   | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  |
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| **Quarterly Financial Information Disclosure [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |   |
| Quarterly Data (Unaudited) Table                          |   2011  First Second Third Fourth Total  (In Millions, Except Per Share Data)Net operating revenues $506.0 $505.1 $497.7 $518.1 $2,026.9Operating earnings(a) 89.3 90.9 79.1 92.1 351.4Provision for income tax (benefit) expense (7.4) 11.2 18.1 15.2 37.1Income from continuing operations 74.0 30.7 33.6 67.5 205.8Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax 17.5 1.6 34.7 (5.0) 48.8Net income 91.5 32.3 68.3 62.5 254.6Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (11.7) (10.4) (11.3) (12.5) (45.9)Net income attributable to HealthSouth $79.8 $21.9 $57.0 $50.0 $208.7Basic and diluted earnings per common share:          Basic:(b)          Income from continuing operations attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders $0.60 $0.14 $0.17 $0.52 $1.42Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax, attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders 0.19 0.03 0.37 (0.05) 0.54Net income attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders $0.79 $0.17 $0.54 $0.47 $1.96Diluted:(c)          Income from continuing operations attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders $0.57 $0.14 $0.17 $0.50 $1.42Income (loss) from discontinued operations, net of tax, attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders 0.16 0.03 0.37 (0.04) 0.54Net income attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders $0.73 $0.17 $0.54 $0.46 $1.96 |   2010  First Second Third Fourth Total  (In Millions, Except Per Share Data)Net operating revenues $458.6 $467.3 $460.8 $490.9 $1,877.6Operating earnings(a) 76.3 71.1 67.1 81.4 295.9Provision for income tax expense (benefit)(b) 2.4 (1.3) (0.4) (741.5) (740.8)Income from continuing operations 49.2 54.2 38.7 788.6 930.7Income from discontinued operations, net of tax 1.3 3.3 3.2 1.3 9.1Net income 50.5 57.5 41.9 789.9 939.8Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (9.8) (10.2) (10.1) (10.7) (40.8)Net income attributable to HealthSouth $40.7 $47.3 $31.8 $779.2 $899.0Basic and diluted earnings per common share:          Basic:(c)          Income from continuing operations attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders $0.36 $0.40 $0.24 $8.31 $9.31Income from discontinued operations, net of tax, attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders 0.01 0.04 0.03 0.02 0.10Net income attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders $0.37 $0.44 $0.27 $8.33 $9.41Diluted:(d)          Income from continuing operations attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders $0.36 $0.40 $0.24 $7.15 $8.20Income from discontinued operations, net of tax, attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders 0.01 0.04 0.03 0.01 0.08Net income attributable to HealthSouth common shareholders $0.37 $0.44 $0.27 $7.16 $8.28 |

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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 -Topic 270 -SubTopic 10 -Publisher FASB -Number  -Article  -Subparagraph (a)-(j) -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Paragraph 1 -Section 50 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6952194&loc=d3e1280-108306
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