Income Taxes (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Federal [Abstract]
Current	$ 49	$ 1,367	$ (312)
Deferred	95,259	182,371	183
Total Federal Tax Expense	95,308	183,738	(129)
State [Abstract]
Current	(3,099)	(2,433)	(1,627)
Deferred (included in Federal above)	0	0	0
Total State Tax Expense	(3,099)	(2,433)	(1,627)
Total	$ 92,209	181,305	(1,756)
U.S. Federal statutory rate	35.00%
Tax benefit at U.S. statutory rate	$ 192,390	115,603	640
Credits	3,937	(2,222)	9,757
Valuation allowance	(111,797)	64,155	(7,097)
Goodwill Impairment	(7,856)	0	0
Non-deductible transaction costs	0	(6,870)	0
Return to provision	(72)	716	(2,568)
State taxes, net of federal income tax	18,323	11,582	(985)
Meals and entertainment	(1,090)	(946)	(496)
Other, net	(1,626)	(713)	(1,007)
Deferred income tax assets [Abstract]
Operating loss carryforwards	282,075	227,956
Accrued expenses	144,691	146,536
Prepaid revenue	2,415	5,835
Deferred lease liability	94,105	77,790
Capital and financing lease obligations	872,002	945,000
Tax credits	40,974	34,860
Intangible Assets	22,522	17,785
Deferred gain on sale leaseback	5,661	7,073
Total gross deferred income tax asset	1,464,445	1,462,835
Valuation allowance	(121,602)	(9,213)
Net deferred income tax assets	1,342,843	1,453,622
Deferred income tax liabilities [Abstract]
Property, plant and equipment	(1,320,423)	(1,556,603)
Investment in unconsolidated ventures	(88,798)	(54,113)
Other	(2,673)	(2,181)
Total gross deferred income tax liability	(1,411,894)	(1,612,897)
Net deferred tax liability	(69,051)	(159,275)
Deferred tax assets (liabilities), Net [Abstract]
Net deferred tax liability	(69,051)	(159,275)
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Deferred Income Tax Expense (Benefit)	(95,261)	(182,371)	(183)
Income Tax Expense (Benefit), Continuing Operations, Adjustment of Deferred Tax (Asset) Liability		64,200
Tax Credit Carryforward [Line Items]
Tax credits, valuation allowance	32,100	1,800
Net operating loss, limitation of utilization	92,800
Unrecognized tax benefits [Roll Forward]
Balance at beginning of period	30,195
Additions for tax positions taken by Emeritus	0
Additions for tax positions related to the current year	0
Additions for tax positions related to prior years	50
Reductions for tax positions related to prior years	(9)
Balance at end of period	30,236	30,195
Total interest and penalties reserved	100
Federal [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Net operating loss carry-forwards	930,400	745,100
State and Local Jurisdiction [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Operating loss carry forwards, valuation allowance	89,500	7,500
Emeritus [Member]
Tax Credit Carryforward [Line Items]
Net operating loss, limitation of utilization	53,900
State [Member]
Tax Credit Carryforward [Line Items]
Tax credits, valuation allowance			$ 0
Federal, State and Local [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Deferred Income Tax Expense (Benefit)		94,100
Restricted Stock [Member]
Operating Loss Carryforwards [Line Items]
Net operating loss carry-forwards	$ 126,700	$ 112,600