Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited) - USD ($) shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019
Revenues:
Premiums	$ 17,182	$ 15,539	$ 51,749	$ 47,612
Net investment income	204	263	550	805
Total revenues	67,056	64,810	199,152	189,887
Operating costs:
Cost of products sold	40,940	40,437	121,529	116,654
Benefit costs	14,396	12,850	40,534	39,396
Operating expenses	8,471	8,595	25,702	24,887
Total operating costs	63,807	61,882	187,765	180,937
Operating income	3,249	2,928	11,387	8,950
Interest expense	731	747	2,229	2,301
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	766	79	766	79
Other income	(54)	(31)	(153)	(93)
Income before income tax provision	1,806	2,133	8,545	6,663
Income tax provision	587	604	2,328	1,776
Net income	1,219	1,529	6,217	4,887
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	5	1	(11)	0
Net income attributable to CVS Health	$ 1,224	$ 1,530	$ 6,206	$ 4,887
Net income per share attributable to CVS Health:
Net income per share attributable to CVS Health, basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.93	$ 1.17	$ 4.74	$ 3.76
Net income per share attributable to CVS Health, diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.93	$ 1.17	$ 4.72	$ 3.75
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Weighted average basic shares outstanding (in shares)	1,310	1,302	1,308	1,300
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding (in shares)	1,315	1,305	1,314	1,303
Dividends declared per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.50	$ 0.50	$ 1.50	$ 1.50
Cost, Product and Service [Extensible List]	us-gaap:ProductMember	us-gaap:ProductMember	us-gaap:ProductMember	us-gaap:ProductMember
Products
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 47,738	$ 47,149	$ 141,096	$ 136,023
Services
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 1,932	$ 1,859	$ 5,757	$ 5,447