Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Millions, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2013	Mar. 31, 2012
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net revenues	$ 30,763	$ 30,798
Cost of revenues	25,181	25,685
Gross profit	5,582	5,113
Operating expenses	3,883	3,709
Operating profit	1,699	1,404
Interest expense, net	126	132
Income before income tax provision	1,573	1,272
Income tax provision	617	496
Income from continuing operations	956	776
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	(1)
Net income	956	775
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	0	1
Net income attributable to CVS Caremark	$ 956	$ 776
Basic earnings per common share:
Income from continuing operations attributable to CVS Caremark (usd per share)	$ 0.78	$ 0.60
Income (loss) from discontinued operations attributable to CVS Caremark (usd per share)	$ 0.00	$ 0.00
Net income attributable to CVS Caremark (usd per share)	$ 0.78	$ 0.60
Weighted average basic common shares outstanding (in shares)	1,232	1,299
Diluted earnings per common share:
Income from continuing operations attributable to CVS Caremark (usd per share)	$ 0.77	$ 0.59
Income (loss) from discontinued operations attributable to CVS Caremark (usd per share)	$ 0.00	$ 0.00
Net income attributable to CVS Caremark (in dollars per share)	$ 0.77	$ 0.59
Weighted average diluted common shares outstanding (in shares)	1,241	1,309
Dividends declared per common share (usd per share)	$ 0.225	$ 0.1625