Basis Of Presentation (Narrative) (Details)	3 Months Ended		8 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2020 USD ($) item	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($)	Apr. 10, 2020 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2019 USD ($)
Standby letters of credit	$ 37,900,000
Expected credit losses from COVID-19	594,000
Deferred income taxes	2,290,000	$ (3,489,000)
Revenue	515,798,000	$ 462,034,000
Lease right of use assets	112,302,000				$ 111,652,000
Lease liabilities	$ 124,530,000				125,936,000
Weighted average rate	3.24%
Number of cloud computing arrangements | item	2
Effective tax rate	18.90%	12.10%
Excess tax benefit on stock options reduced income tax expense	$ 4,600,000	$ 6,700,000
Capitalized property and equipment	1,700,000				$ 1,800,000
CARES Act [Member]
Deferred income taxes	8,800,000
Relief Fund	100,000,000,000
CARES Act - 2019 Medicare Fee-For-Service [Member]
Relief Fund	30,000,000,000
ASU 2016-02 [Member]
Lease right of use assets						$ 93,100,000
Lease liabilities						$ 104,300,000
Weighted average rate						3.47%
Cloud Computing [Member]
Capitalized contract cost	6,000,000.0
VITAS [Member] | CARES Act [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Relief Fund				$ 30,000,000,000
VITAS [Member] | CARES Act - 2019 Medicare Fee-For-Service [Member] | Subsequent Event [Member]
Relief Fund				$ 80,200,000
VITAS [Member] | Forecast [Member]
Percentage of Medicare sequestration reimbursement			2.00%
VITAS [Member] | Forecast [Member] | Minimum [Member]
Revenue			$ 15,000,000
VITAS [Member] | Forecast [Member] | Maximum [Member]
Revenue			$ 20,000,000
VITAS [Member] | Cloud Computing [Member]
Capitalized contract cost, amortization expense	$ 262,000
Capitalized contract cost, amortization period	5 years
Roto-Rooter [Member]
Expected credit losses from COVID-19	$ 524,000
Roto-Rooter [Member] | Cloud Computing [Member]
Capitalized contract cost, amortization expense	$ 0