Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share (in shares)	7.8	3.6	5.7	1.8
Numerator for earnings per share calculations:
Net income attributable to CVS Health	$ 924	$ 1,272	$ 2,070	$ 2,493
Income allocated to participating securities	(4)	(7)	(10)	(12)
Income available for common shareholders	$ 920	$ 1,265	$ 2,060	$ 2,481
Denominators for earnings per share calculations:
Weighted averages shares outstanding, basic (in shares)	1,070.0	1,124.0	1,081.0	1,126.0
Stock options (in shares)	5.0	8.0	6.0	8.0
Weighted averages shares outstanding, diluted (in shares)	1,075.0	1,132.0	1,087.0	1,134.0
Net income per share attributable to CVS Health:
Earnings per share, basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.86	$ 1.13	$ 1.91	$ 2.20
Earnings per share, diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.86	$ 1.12	$ 1.90	$ 2.19