Number of Quarterly Payments Due

No definition available.

Name:	cvs_NumberofQuarterlyPaymentsDue
Namespace Prefix:	cvs_
Data Type:	xbrli:integerItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Variable Interest Entity, Contractual Obligation, Payment Received

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	cvs_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Variable Interest Entity, Initial Contractual Term

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	cvs_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

The equity interest of noncontrolling shareholders, partners or other equity holders in consolidated entity.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

The parent entity's interest in net assets of the subsidiary, expressed as a percentage.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_MinorityInterestOwnershipPercentageByParent
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Estimated period over which an employee is required to provide service in exchange for the equity-based payment award, in 'PnYnMnDTnHnMnS' format, for example, 'P1Y5M13D' represents the reported fact of one year, five months, and thirteen days.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/presentationRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 718
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)(1)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=6415400&loc=d3e5070-113901

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:durationItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

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.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ShareBasedCompensationArrangementByShareBasedPaymentAwardLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

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.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_VariableInterestEntitiesByClassificationOfEntityAxis=us-gaap_VariableInterestEntityPrimaryBeneficiaryMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_OtherCommitmentsAxis=cvs_TermsofGenericSourcingVentureMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_RangeAxis=us-gaap_MinimumMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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Significant Accounting Policies - Stock-based Compensation and Variable Interest Entity (Details) $ in Millions	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Jul. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) payment	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)
Variable Interest Entity, Primary Beneficiary \| Terms of Generic Sourcing Venture
Variable Interest Entity [Line Items]
Ownership percentage by noncontrolling owners		50.00%
Ownership percentage by parent		50.00%
Initial contractual term	10 years
Number of quarterly payments due (in quarterly payments) \| payment		39
Increase in contractual obligation payment received \| $		$ 122	$ 26
Minimum
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Requisite service period of the stock award (in years)		3 years
Maximum
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Requisite service period of the stock award (in years)		5 years