Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2019	Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Revenues:
Premiums	$ 63,122,000,000	$ 8,184,000,000	$ 3,558,000,000
Net investment income	1,011,000,000	660,000,000	21,000,000
Total revenues	256,776,000,000	194,579,000,000	184,786,000,000
Operating costs:
Cost of products sold	158,719,000,000	156,447,000,000	153,448,000,000
Benefit costs	52,529,000,000	6,594,000,000	2,810,000,000
Goodwill impairments	0	6,149,000,000	181,000,000
Operating expenses	33,541,000,000	21,368,000,000	18,809,000,000
Total operating costs	244,789,000,000	190,558,000,000	175,248,000,000
Operating income	11,987,000,000	4,021,000,000	9,538,000,000
Interest expense	3,035,000,000	2,619,000,000	1,062,000,000
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	79,000,000	0	0
Other expense (income)	(124,000,000)	(4,000,000)	208,000,000
Income before income tax provision	8,997,000,000	1,406,000,000	8,268,000,000
Income tax provision	2,366,000,000	2,002,000,000	1,637,000,000
Income (loss) from continuing operations	6,631,000,000	(596,000,000)	6,631,000,000
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	0	(8,000,000)
Net income (loss)	6,631,000,000	(596,000,000)	6,623,000,000
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	3,000,000	2,000,000	(1,000,000)
Net income (loss) attributable to CVS Health	$ 6,634,000,000	$ (594,000,000)	$ 6,622,000,000
Basic earnings (loss) per share:
Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	$ 5.10	$ (0.57)	$ 6.48
Loss from discontinued operations attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	0	0	(0.01)
Net income (loss) attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	$ 5.10	$ (0.57)	$ 6.47
Weighted average basic shares outstanding (in shares)	1,301	1,044	1,020
Diluted earnings (loss) per share:
Income (loss) from continuing operations attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	$ 5.08	$ (0.57)	$ 6.45
Loss from discontinued operations attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	0	0	(0.01)
Net income (loss) attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	$ 5.08	$ (0.57)	$ 6.44
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding (in shares)	1,305	1,044	1,024
Dividends declared per share (in dollars per share)	$ 2.00	$ 2.00	$ 2.00
Products
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 185,236,000,000	$ 183,910,000,000	$ 180,063,000,000
Services
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 7,407,000,000	$ 1,825,000,000	$ 1,144,000,000