Segments (Service Revenues And Sales And After- Tax Earnings By Business Segment) (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended			9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2013		Sep. 30, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Service revenues and sales	$ 340,886,000		$ 354,353,000	$ 1,064,725,000		$ 1,061,466,000
After-tax Earnings	22,789,000		28,085,000	74,455,000		83,714,000
Net income	17,432,000		20,845,000	54,318,000		62,564,000
Income tax benefit	(1,800,000)
Litigation settlement of VITAS segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Service revenues and sales	254,001,000		267,990,000	788,896,000		794,050,000
After-tax Earnings	14,608,000		21,940,000	55,237,000		61,999,000
Settlements of Roto-Rooter segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Service revenues and sales	86,885,000		86,363,000	275,829,000		267,416,000
After-tax Earnings	8,181,000		6,145,000	19,218,000		21,715,000
Corporate Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
After-tax Earnings	$ (5,357,000)	[1]	$ (7,240,000)	$ (20,137,000)	[1]	$ (21,150,000)

[1] Corporate includes a credit of $1.8 million related to the expiration of tax statutes for uncertain tax positions recorded in prior years.