Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies (Narrative) (Details)	8 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) item	Dec. 31, 2020 USD ($) item entity	Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Apr. 10, 2020 USD ($)	Jan. 01, 2019 USD ($)
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of wholly-owned subsidiaries | entity		2
Standby letters of credit outstanding	$ 37,900,000	$ 37,900,000
Deferred payroll taxes		36,350,000
Deferred payroll taxes - short-term liability		18,200,000
Deferred payroll taxes - Long-term liability		18,200,000
Revenue		2,079,583,000	$ 1,938,555,000	$ 1,782,648,000
Other operating income		75,095,000	(9,132,000)	(1,300,000)
Lease right of use assets	123,448,000	123,448,000	111,652,000
Lease liabilities	$ 135,410,000	$ 135,410,000	125,936,000
Weighted average rate	2.87%	2.87%
Number of cloud computing arrangements | item	2	2
Advertising expense in continuing operations		$ 54,400,000	49,500,000	47,000,000.0
Adjustments to casualty and workers compensation accrual, net pretax debits/(credits)		$ (4,578,000)	$ (1,664,000)	$ (3,437,000)
Historical claims data, period of time		10 years
Effective income tax rate		19.30%	15.90%	14.20%
Excess tax benefit on stock options reduced income tax expense		$ 26,100,000	$ 24,200,000	$ 22,900,000
CARES Act [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Relief Fund	$ 100,000,000,000	100,000,000,000
CARES Act - 2019 Medicare Fee-For-Service [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Relief Fund	$ 30,000,000,000	$ 30,000,000,000
Total Assets [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Concentration risk, percentage		5.00%
Total Current Liabilities [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Concentration risk, percentage		5.00%
Roto-Rooter [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Expected credit losses from COVID-19		$ 657,000
VITAS [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of COVID positive patients cared | item		5,700
VITAS [Member] | CARES Act [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Percentage of Medicare sequestration reimbursement	2.00%	2.00%
Revenue		$ 16,800,000
VITAS [Member] | CARES Act - 2019 Medicare Fee-For-Service [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Relief Fund					$ 80,200,000
Roto Rooter And Corporate Office [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Exposure on single claim	$ 750,000	$ 750,000
Roto-Rooter [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of operating segments | item		1
Percent of population serviced		90.00%
VITAS [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Number of service providers | item		1
Exposure on single claim	1,000,000	$ 1,000,000
Professional liability and other risks, insurance deductible	750,000	$ 750,000
Medicare [Member] | Accounts Receivable [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Concentration risk, percentage		74.00%	71.00%
Medicaid [Member] | Accounts Receivable [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Concentration risk, percentage		20.00%	26.00%
Medicare And Medicaid [Member] | Accounts Receivable [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Concentration risk, percentage		80.00%
ASU 2016-02 [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Lease right of use assets						$ 93,100,000
Lease liabilities						$ 104,300,000
Weighted average rate						3.47%
Cloud Computing [Member] | ASU No. 2018-15 [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Capitalized contract cost	$ 9,300,000	$ 9,300,000
Capitalized contract cost, amortization expense		1,100,000
Lost Revenue [Member] | VITAS [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Other operating income		44,800,000
Lost Revenue [Member] | Maximum [Member] | VITAS [Member]
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]
Other operating income		$ 61,400,000