Acquisitions and Divestitures (Acquisitions Narrative) (Details)					1 Months Ended	11 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Nov. 03, 2014 USD ($) item	Oct. 01, 2014 USD ($) item	Apr. 01, 2014 USD ($) item	Jan. 27, 2014 USD ($) state item $ / shares	Jan. 27, 2014 USD ($) state item $ / shares shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) state item $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($) $ / shares
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Changes, Purchase of Interest by Parent							$ 16,000,000	$ 2,000,000	$ 1,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Goodwill						$ 8,951,000,000	$ 8,965,000,000	8,951,000,000	4,424,000,000
Business Combination Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Contingent Value Right, Amount Per Share | $ / shares							$ 1.00
Number of States in which Entity Operates | state							28
Number of Hospitals Owned and Leased by the Company | item							194
Business Combination, Pro Forma Information, Revenue of Acquiree since Acquisition Date, Actual								360,000,000
Loss from early extinguishment of debt							$ (16,000,000)	(73,000,000)	(1,000,000)
Loss on Extinguishment of Debt, Net of Tax							(10,000,000)	(45,000,000)	(1,000,000)
Senior Secured Notes at 5.125, Due 2021 [Member] | Senior Secured Notes [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount				$ 1,000,000,000	$ 1,000,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage				5.125%	5.125%
Senior Notes at 6.875, Due 2022 [Member] | Senior Notes [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount				$ 3,000,000,000	$ 3,000,000,000
Debt Instrument, Interest Rate, Stated Percentage				6.875%	6.875%
Lake Norman [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Consolidation, Less than Wholly Owned Subsidiary, Parent Ownership Interest, Changes, Purchase of Interest by Parent	$ 150,000,000
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired	30.00%
Upstate Carolina Medical Center [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Number of Licensed Hospital or Facility Beds | item	125
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price	$ 4,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Goodwill							$ 0
Novant [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Effective Date of Acquisition							Nov. 03, 2014
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Liabilities	$ 5,000,000
Natchez Regional Medical Center [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Effective Date of Acquisition							Oct. 01, 2014
Business Acquisition, Number of Licensed Hospital or Facility Beds | item		179
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price		$ 10,000,000
Prepayment of future property taxes		$ 8,000,000
Period of prepayment for future property taxes will be applied to the tax liability							17 years
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Goodwill							$ 0
Sharon Regional Health System [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Effective Date of Acquisition							Apr. 01, 2014
Business Acquisition, Number of Licensed Hospital or Facility Beds | item			258
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid for Fixed Assets			$ 67,000,000
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid for Working Capital			1,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Liabilities			9,000,000
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price			$ 77,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Goodwill							$ 8,000,000
Munroe Regional Medical Center [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Acquisition, Effective Date of Acquisition							Apr. 01, 2014
Business Acquisition, Number of Licensed Hospital or Facility Beds | item			421
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid for Fixed Assets			$ 192,000,000
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid for Working Capital			4,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Liabilities			11,000,000
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price			$ 207,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Goodwill							$ 11,000,000
Business Acquisition, Percentage of Voting Interests Acquired			95.00%
Business Combination, Assumed Noncontrolling Interest, Fair Value			$ 10,000,000
Munroe Regional Medical Center [Member] | Affiliate of Regional Not-for-Profit Healthcare System [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Noncontrolling Interest, Ownership Percentage by Noncontrolling Owners			5.00%
Health Management Associates, Inc. [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs							$ 1,000,000	69,000,000	14,000,000
Business Acquisition, Effective Date of Acquisition							Jan. 27, 2014
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Liabilities				$ 5,662,000,000	$ 5,662,000,000
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Purchase Price				3,531,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Goodwill				4,494,000,000	4,494,000,000	4,500,000,000		$ 4,500,000,000
Business Combination, Assumed Noncontrolling Interest, Fair Value				335,000,000	335,000,000
Business Combination Consideration Transferred And Existing Indebtedness Assumed					7,300,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Noncurrent Liabilities, Long-term Debt				$ 3,800,000,000	$ 3,800,000,000
Payments to Acquire Businesses, Gross, Per Share | $ / shares					$ 10.50
Business Combination Consideration Transferred Equity Interests Issued, Per Share | shares					0.06942
Business Combination Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Contingent Value Right, Number Per Share | item				1	1
Business Combination Contingent Consideration Arrangements, Contingent Value Right, Amount Per Share | $ / shares				$ 1.00	$ 1.00
Business Acquisition, Number of Hospitals Acquired | item				71	71
Number of States in which Entity Operates | state				15	15
Business Combination, Pro Forma Information, Revenue of Acquiree since Acquisition Date, Actual						5,300,000,000
Business Combination, Pro Forma Information, Earnings or Loss of Acquiree since Acquisition Date, Actual						564,000,000
Extinguishment of Debt, Gain (Loss), Per Share, Net of Tax | $ / shares								$ 0.40
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Other Nonoperating Expense, Before Tax									133,000,000
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Other Nonoperating Expense, Net of Tax									$ 83,000,000
Business Acquisition, Pro Forma Earnings Per Share, Other Nonoperating Expense, Diluted | $ / shares									$ 0.74
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid				$ 2,778,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Property, Plant and Equipment				2,895,000,000	$ 2,895,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Intangible Assets, Other than Goodwill				$ 112,000,000	$ 112,000,000
Excluding Health Management Associates Inc [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Acquisition Related Costs							$ 8,000,000	$ 13,000,000	$ 7,000,000
Physician Practices Clinics and Other Ancillary Businesses [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Business Combination, Assumed Noncontrolling Interest, Fair Value							7,000,000		5,000,000
Business Acquisition, Cost of Acquired Entity, Cash Paid							51,000,000	29,000,000	40,000,000
Business Acquisition, Purchase Price Allocation, Property, Plant and Equipment						15,000,000	19,000,000	15,000,000	9,000,000
Business Combination, Recognized Identifiable Assets Acquired and Liabilities Assumed, Intangible Assets, Other than Goodwill						$ 14,000,000	$ 39,000,000	$ 14,000,000	$ 36,000,000