Amount of cash paid in a transaction

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Fair value of of available-for-sale equity securities exchanged.

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This element represents the fair value of the redeemable noncontrolling interest in the acquiree at the acquisition date.

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No definition available.

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Estimated fair value of business exchanged.

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This item represents the total realized gain included in earnings for the period as a result of exchanging marketable securities.

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No definition available.

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The aggregate amount of write-downs recognized during the period for long-lived assets.

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The percentage of redeemable noncontrolling interest exchanged.

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Percent of noncontrolling interest purchased during the period.

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The number of businesses disposed of by the entity during the period.

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The number of nationally accredited ground campuses sold.

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The number of schools sold.

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The number of television stations included in agreement to acquire.

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The number of business lines.

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Number of shares exchanged in a transaction.

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The number of shares received in an exchange transaction

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The payments to be paid to acquire businesses per agreement.

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The percentage of a joint venture sold.

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The percentage of total Celtic revenue that is now part of the joint venture.

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Amount of direct costs of the business combination including legal, accounting, and other costs incurred to consummate the business acquisition.

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Percentage of voting equity interests acquired at the acquisition date in the business combination.

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The amount of goodwill arising from a business combination that is expected to be deductible for tax purposes.

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Amount of consideration transferred, consisting of acquisition-date fair value of assets transferred by the acquirer, liabilities incurred by the acquirer, and equity interest issued by the acquirer.

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This element represents the amount of earnings or loss of the acquiree since the acquisition date included in the consolidated income statement for the reporting period.

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This element represents the amount of revenue of the acquiree since the acquisition date included in the consolidated income statement for the reporting period.

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Amount after tax of gain (loss) not previously recognized resulting from the disposal of a discontinued operation.

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The percentage of ownership of common stock or equity participation in the investee accounted for under the equity method of accounting.

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Amount of increase (decrease) from adjustments after acquisition date under purchase accounting of an asset representing the future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Change in noncontrolling interest during the period as a result of a change in the redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interest.

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The equity interest of noncontrolling shareholders, partners or other equity holders in consolidated entity.

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The parent entity's interest in net assets of the subsidiary, expressed as a percentage.

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The number of businesses acquired by the entity during the period.

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Redemption value, as if currently redeemable, of redeemable noncontrolling interest for common shares, units or ownership interests classified as temporary equity and the election has been made to accrete changes in redemption value to the earliest redemption date.

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Equity impact of the cost of common and preferred stock that were repurchased during the period. Recorded using the cost method.

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Acquisitions and Dispositions of Businesses (Narrative) (Details) $ in Thousands		1 Months Ended			3 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($) shares	Jun. 30, 2016 USD ($)	May 31, 2016 USD ($) TelevisionStation	Jan. 31, 2015 school	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($) business	Sep. 30, 2014 school	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($) shares	Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($) business	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) business	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) business	Sep. 30, 2016	Feb. 29, 2016	Jan. 31, 2016	Dec. 22, 2015	Nov. 13, 2015 business	Sep. 03, 2015 campus	Feb. 12, 2015 campus	Jul. 03, 2014 USD ($)	May 30, 2014	Apr. 01, 2014
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Cost of acquisition								$ 258,000	$ 163,300	$ 210,200
Number of businesses acquired \| business								5	2	9
Acquisition-related costs								$ 1,500
Goodwill expected to be deductible for income tax purposes								22,200	$ 20,000
Measurement period adjustment								(20,024)	4,570
Revenues of acquired companies since acquisition date								47,600
Operating income of acquired companies since acquisition date								7,200
Gain on share exchange								0	0	$ 266,733
Treasury stock increase								108,948	22,979	$ 1,165,427
Change in redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interests								$ (3,026)	(2,601)
Celtic Healthcare Allegheny Health Network Joint Venture [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Ownership percentage of investment in affiliate				40.00%
Group Dekko [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of interest acquired															100.00%
Number of business lines \| business															3
Joyce/Dayton Corp [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of interest acquired																			100.00%
Residential Healthcare Group Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of interest acquired																		80.00%
Education [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired \| business								3		3
Measurement period adjustment								$ (2,781)	0
Impairment Of Long Lived Assets					$ 6,900
Number Of Businesses Disposed \| business					2
Education [Member] \| SmartPros [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of interest acquired														100.00%
Television Broadcasting [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of television stations included in agreement to acquire \| TelevisionStation			2
Payments to acquire businesses per agreement			$ 60,000
Number of businesses acquired \| business										1
Measurement period adjustment								$ 0	0
Other Businesses [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired \| business								2		2
Measurement period adjustment								$ (17,243)	$ 4,570
Residential Healthcare Group Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of redeemable noncontrolling interest acquired																		$ 17,100
Noncontrolling interest purchased		20.00%
Change in redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interests		$ 3,000
Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest, Equity, Common, Redemption Value		$ 24,000
Residential Healthcare Group Inc [Member] \| Residential Hospice Illinois [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Ownership percentage of investment in affiliate								42.50%										42.50%
Residential Healthcare Group Inc [Member] \| Residential Home Health Illinois [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Ownership percentage of investment in affiliate								40.00%										40.00%
Celtic Healthcare Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Noncontrolling interest exchanged		20.00%
Celtic Healthcare Inc [Member] \| Celtic Healthcare Allegheny Health Network Joint Venture [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Ownership percentage of investment in affiliate				40.00%				40.00%
Percentage of Celtic Revenue										29.00%
Celtic Healthcare Inc [Member] \| VNA-TIP Healthcare [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of interest acquired																				100.00%
Graham Healthcare Group [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Change in redemption value of redeemable noncontrolling interests		$ 4,100
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Parent								90.00%
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Noncontrolling Owners		10.00%
Group Dekko [Member] \| Electri-Cable Assemblies [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of interest acquired											100.00%
Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Amount of Cash Exchanged	$ 327,700						$ 327,700
Treasury stock increase							1,165,400
Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member] \| Berkshire Hathaway Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Gain on share exchange	266,700
Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member] \| WPLG [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
After-tax gain (loss) on sale and/or disposition							375,000
Estimated fair value of business exchanged	$ 438,000						$ 438,000
Residential And Michigan Hospital Joint Venture [Member] \| Residential Healthcare Group Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Ownership percentage of investment in affiliate		40.00%
Percentage of joint venture sold		60.00%
Class A Common Stock [Member] \| Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member] \| Berkshire Hathaway Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of shares exchanged \| shares	2,107						2,107
Class B Common Stock [Member] \| Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of Shares Received in Exchange \| shares	1,620,190.00000						1,620,190.00000
Class B Common Stock [Member] \| Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member] \| Berkshire Hathaway Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of shares exchanged \| shares	1,278						1,278
Common Class A and B [Member] \| Berkshire Exchange Transaction [Member] \| Berkshire Hathaway Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Fair value of available-for-sale equity securities exchanged	$ 400,300						$ 400,300
Kaplan International [Member] \| Education [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Measurement period adjustment								$ 0
Kaplan International [Member] \| Education [Member] \| Mander Portman Woodward [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of interest acquired													100.00%
Kaplan International [Member] \| Education [Member] \| Osborne Books [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Percentage of interest acquired												100.00%
Kaplan International [Member] \| Kaplan China [Member] \| Education [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of schools sold \| school				1		3
Higher Education [Member] \| Education [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Measurement period adjustment								$ (2,781)
Higher Education [Member] \| KHE Campuses [Member] \| Education [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of nationally accredited ground campuses sold \| campus																38	38