Name:	lh_AmountOutstandingLettersOfCredit
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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

Number of Recipients

No definition available.

Name:	lh_NumberOfRecipients
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Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
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Period Type:	instant

Payment reduction by Assembly Bill No. 97

No definition available.

Name:	lh_PaymentreductionbyAssemblyBillNo.97
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Data Type:	num:percentItemType
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Period Type:	duration

Percent of lowest maximum (cap on payments) established under federal Medicare program

No definition available.

Name:	lh_Percentoflowestmaximumcaponpayments
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The amount of the litigation reserve previously recorded in connection with the California False Claims Act lawsuit.

No definition available.

Name:	lh_PreviouslyRecordedLitigationReserveInConnectionWithFalseClaimsActLawsuit
Namespace Prefix:	lh_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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Proposed Damages per Violation

No definition available.

Name:	lh_ProposedDamagesPerViolation
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Amount of gain (loss) recognized in settlement of litigation and insurance claims. Excludes claims within an insurance entity's normal claims settlement process.

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 450
-SubTopic 20
-Section 50
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82911808&loc=d3e14326-108349

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Amount awarded to other party in judgment or settlement of litigation.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_LitigationSettlementAmountAwardedToOtherParty
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Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
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Period Type:	duration

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

No definition available.