Segments (Service Revenues And Sales And After- Tax Earnings By Business Segment) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Service Revenues and Sales	$ 366,641	$ 352,943
After-tax Earnings	29,766	27,123
Net income	22,278	20,445
VITAS [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Service Revenues and Sales	271,326	260,847
After-tax Earnings	20,142	19,627
Roto-Rooter [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Service Revenues and Sales	95,315	92,096
After-tax Earnings	9,624	7,496
Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
After-tax Earnings	$ (7,488)	$ (6,678)