Compensation Related Costs, Share Based Payments	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020
Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]
CAPITAL STOCK AND SHARE-BASED COMPENSATION	CAPITAL STOCK AND SHARE-BASED COMPENSATIONOn August 10, 2020, Paul B. Kusserow, President, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Amedisys, exercised 500,000 stock options previously awarded to him under our 2008 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan. In connection with the exercise, Mr. Kusserow surrendered 231,683 shares of common stock to us to satisfy tax withholding and strike price obligations and elected to hold the net 268,317 shares issued to him. The surrendered shares are classified as treasury shares. This transaction resulted in a cash outflow of $40.4 million, reflected within financing activities in our condensed consolidated statement of cashflows, related to the remittance of tax withholding obligations on Mr. Kusserow's behalf. In addition, Mr. Kusserow's stock option exercise resulted in a $24.0 million income tax benefit that was recorded in our condensed consolidated statement of operations during the three-month period ended September 30, 2020. We recognize compensation expense for stock option awards on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for each separately vesting portion of the award in accordance with ASC 718, Compensation: Stock Compensation; however, the income tax deduction related to stock options is not recognized until the stock option exercise date. As a result, for awards that are expected to result in a tax deduction, a deferred tax asset is created as the entity recognizes compensation expense for GAAP purposes. If the tax deduction exceeds the cumulative GAAP compensation expense for the award, the tax benefit associated with any excess deduction is recognized as an income tax benefit in the statement of operations.