Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Millions	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021	Dec. 31, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Revenues:
Premiums	$ 76,132,000,000	$ 69,364,000,000	$ 63,122,000,000
Net investment income	1,199,000,000	798,000,000	1,011,000,000
Total revenues	292,111,000,000	268,706,000,000	256,776,000,000
Operating costs:
Cost of products sold	175,803,000,000	163,981,000,000	158,719,000,000
Benefit costs	64,260,000,000	55,679,000,000	52,529,000,000
Store impairments	1,358,000,000	0	231,000,000
Goodwill impairment	431,000,000	0	0
Operating expenses	37,066,000,000	35,135,000,000	33,310,000,000
Total operating costs	278,918,000,000	254,795,000,000	244,789,000,000
Operating income	13,193,000,000	13,911,000,000	11,987,000,000
Interest expense	2,503,000,000	2,907,000,000	3,035,000,000
Loss on early extinguishment of debt	452,000,000	1,440,000,000	79,000,000
Other income	(182,000,000)	(206,000,000)	(124,000,000)
Income before income tax provision	10,420,000,000	9,770,000,000	8,997,000,000
Income tax provision	2,522,000,000	2,569,000,000	2,366,000,000
Income from continuing operations	7,898,000,000	7,201,000,000	6,631,000,000
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	0	(9,000,000)	0
Net income	7,898,000,000	7,192,000,000	6,631,000,000
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests	12,000,000	(13,000,000)	3,000,000
Net income attributable to CVS Health	$ 7,910,000,000	$ 7,179,000,000	$ 6,634,000,000
Basic earnings per share:
Income from continuing operations attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	$ 6.00	$ 5.49	$ 5.10
Loss from discontinued operations attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	0	(0.01)	0
Net income attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	$ 6.00	$ 5.48	$ 5.10
Weighted average basic shares outstanding (in shares)	1,319	1,309	1,301
Diluted earnings per share:
Income from continuing operations attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	$ 5.95	$ 5.47	$ 5.08
Loss from discontinued operations attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	0	(0.01)	0
Net income attributable to CVS Health (in dollars per share)	$ 5.95	$ 5.46	$ 5.08
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding (in shares)	1,329	1,314	1,305
Dividends declared per share (in dollars per share)	$ 2.00	$ 2.00	$ 2.00
Cost, Product and Service [Extensible List]	Products	Products	Products
Products
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 203,738,000,000	$ 190,688,000,000	$ 185,236,000,000
Services
Revenues:
Revenues	$ 11,042,000,000	$ 7,856,000,000	$ 7,407,000,000