Income Taxes (Details)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Income Taxes
Estimated Annual Effective Income Tax Rate	36.00%	34.00%

Represents the estimated annual effective tax rate which is based on annual projections of pre-tax earnings and related taxes.

No definition available.

Name:	uthr_EstimatedAnnualEffectiveIncomeTaxRate
Namespace Prefix:	uthr_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration