| **Share-Based Payments**                                                      | 12 Months Ended                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        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| **Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]** |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              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| Stock-Based Compensation                                                      | Share-Based Payments:The Company has awarded employee stock-based compensation in the form of stock options and restricted stock awards under the terms of share-based incentive plans designed to align employee and executive interests to those of its stockholders. All employee stock-based compensation awarded in 2011 was issued under the 2008 Equity Incentive Plan. The terms of the 2008 Equity Incentive Plan made available up to six million shares of common stock to be granted. In May 2011, our shareholders approved the Amended and Restated 2008 Equity Incentive Plan, which reserves and provides for the grant of up to nine million shares of common stock. All employee stock-based compensation awarded in 2012 and 2013 was issued under this plan. Both incentive plans were approved by our stockholders and provide for the grants of nonqualified stock options, incentive stock options, restricted stock, stock appreciation rights, performance shares, performance share units, dividend equivalents, restricted stock units (“RSUs”), and/or other stock-based awards. Stock Options—Under our share-based incentive plans, officers and employees are given the right to purchase shares of HealthSouth common stock at a fixed grant price determined on the day the options are granted. The terms and conditions of the options, including exercise prices and the periods in which options are exercisable, are generally at the discretion of the compensation committee of our board of directors. However, no options are exercisable beyond ten years from the date of grant. Granted options vest over the awards’ requisite service periods, which is generally three years.The fair values of the options granted during the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 have been estimated at the grant date using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following weighted-average assumptions: For the Year Ended December 31, 2013 2012 2011Expected volatility41.8% 42.8% 41.5%Risk-free interest rate1.4% 1.4% 2.8%Expected life (years)7.2 7.0 6.7Dividend yield0.0% 0.0% 0.0%The Black-Scholes option-pricing model was developed for use in estimating the fair value of traded options which have no vesting restrictions and are fully transferable. In addition, option-pricing models require the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the expected stock price volatility. We estimate our expected term through an analysis of actual, historical post-vesting exercise, cancellation, and expiration behavior by our employees and projected post-vesting activity of outstanding options. We calculate volatility based on the historical volatility of our common stock over the period commensurate with the expected life of the options. The risk-free interest rate is the implied daily yield currently available on U.S. Treasury issues with a remaining term closely approximating the expected term used as the input to the Black-Scholes option-pricing model. While our board of directors initiated quarterly dividends of $0.18 per common share in 2013 (see Note 17,Earnings per Common Share), we did not include a dividend payment as part of our pricing model because we had not historically paid dividends at the time of our option grants. We estimate forfeitures through an analysis of actual, historical pre-vesting option forfeiture activity. Under the Black-Scholes option-pricing model, the weighted-average fair value per share of employee stock options granted during the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 was $10.96, $9.57, and $11.27, respectively.A summary of our stock option activity and related information is as follows: Shares(In Thousands) Weighted- Average Exercise Price per Share Weighted- Average Remaining Life (Years) Aggregate Intrinsic Value(In Millions)Outstanding, December 31, 20122,575 $21.12    Granted141 24.17    Exercised(338) 24.39    Forfeitures— —    Expirations(17) 24.47    Outstanding, December 31, 20132,361 20.82 4.5 $29.5Exercisable, December 31, 20131,991 20.45 3.8 25.6We recognized approximately $2.1 million, $2.0 million, and $1.7 million of compensation expense related to our stock options for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, respectively. As of December 31, 2013, there was $2.1 million of unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested stock options. This cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 19 months. The total intrinsic value of options exercised during the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 was $1.9 million, $0.1 million, and $0.8 million, respectively. Restricted Stock—The restricted stock awards granted in 2013, 2012, and 2011 included service-based awards, performance-based awards (that also included a service requirement), and market condition awards (that also included a service requirement). These awards generally vest over a three-year requisite service period. For awards with a service and/or performance requirement, the fair value of the award is determined by the closing price of our common stock on the grant date. For awards with a market condition, the fair value of the awards is determined using a lattice model. Inputs into the model include the historical price volatility of our common stock, the historical volatility of the common stock of the companies in the defined peer group, and the risk free interest rate. Utilizing these inputs and potential future changes in stock prices, multiple trials are run to determine the fair value.A summary of our issued restricted stock awards is as follows (share information in thousands): Shares Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair ValueNonvested shares at December 31, 20121,048 $19.28Granted847 23.55Vested(690) 18.25Forfeited(43) 22.67Nonvested shares at December 31, 20131,162 22.89The weighted-average grant date fair value of restricted stock granted during the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011 was $19.30 and $8.23 per share, respectively. We recognized approximately $21.6 million, $21.2 million, and $17.7 million of compensation expense related to our restricted stock awards for the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, respectively. As of December 31, 2013, there was $22.0 million of unrecognized compensation expense related to unvested restricted stock. This cost is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 20 months. The remaining unrecognized compensation expense for the performance-based awards may vary each reporting period based on changes in the expected achievement of performance measures. The total fair value of shares vested during the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011 was $15.7 million, $34.0 million, and $12.5 million, respectively.Nonemployee Stock-Based Compensation Plans—During the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, we provided incentives to our nonemployee members of our board of directors through the issuance of RSUs out of our share-based incentive plans. RSUs are fully vested when awarded and receive dividend equivalents in the form of additional RSUs upon the payment of a cash dividend on our common stock. During the years ended December 31, 2013, 2012, and 2011, we issued 53,011, 42,903, and 37,332 RSUs, respectively, with a fair value of $22.47, $20.98, and $24.11, respectively, per unit. We recognized approximately $1.2 million, $0.9 million, and $0.9 million, respectively, of compensation expense upon their issuance in 2013, 2012, and 2011. There was no unrecognized compensation related to unvested shares as of December 31, 2013. As of December 31, 2013, 357,308 RSUs were outstanding. |

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| - Definition
The entire disclosure for compensation-related costs for equity-based compensation, which may include disclosure of policies, compensation plan details, allocation of equity compensation, incentive distributions, equity-based arrangements to obtain goods and services, deferred compensation arrangements, employee stock ownership plan details and employee stock purchase plan details.
+ References
Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5047-113901Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 2 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5070-113901Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 505 -SubTopic 50 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6406099&loc=d3e25284-112666Reference 4: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 40 -Section 50 -Paragraph 1 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6418621&loc=d3e17540-113929Reference 5: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 718 -SubTopic 10 -Section 50 -Paragraph 4 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5444-113901Reference 6: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef -Publisher SEC -Name Staff Accounting Bulletin (SAB) -Number Topic 14
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