Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2022
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Segment Reporting	The Company has four reportable segments: Health Care Benefits, Pharmacy Services, Retail/LTC and Corporate/Other, which are described below. Health Care Benefits Segment The Health Care Benefits segment operates as one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits providers. The Health Care Benefits segment has the information and resources to help members, in consultation with their health care professionals, make more informed decisions about their health care. The Health Care Benefits segment offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health plans, medical management capabilities, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans, PDPs, Medicaid health care management services and health information technology products and services. The Health Care Benefits segment’s customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers (“providers”), governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. The Company refers to insurance products (where it assumes all or a majority of the risk for medical and dental care costs) as “Insured” and administrative services contract products (where the plan sponsor assumes all or a majority of the risk for medical and dental care costs) as “ASC.” In addition, effective January 2022, the Company entered the individual public health insurance exchanges (“Public Exchanges”) in eight states through which it sells Insured plans directly to individual consumers. The Company will enter Public Exchanges in four additional states effective January 2023. Open enrollment for the 2023 calendar year has begun in each of these twelve states. Pharmacy Services Segment The Pharmacy Services segment provides a full range of pharmacy benefit management (“PBM”) solutions, including plan design offerings and administration, formulary management, retail pharmacy network management services and mail order pharmacy. In addition, through the Pharmacy Services segment, the Company provides specialty pharmacy and infusion services, clinical services, disease management services, medical spend management and pharmacy and/or other administrative services for providers and federal 340B drug pricing program covered entities (“Covered Entities”). The Company operates a group purchasing organization that negotiates pricing for the purchase of pharmaceuticals and rebates with pharmaceutical manufacturers on behalf of its participants. The Company also provides various administrative, management and reporting services to pharmaceutical manufacturers. The Pharmacy Services segment’s clients are primarily employers, insurance companies, unions, government employee groups, health plans, PDPs, Medicaid managed care plans, plans offered on Public Exchanges and private health insurance exchanges, other sponsors of health benefit plans throughout the United States and Covered Entities. The Pharmacy Services segment operates retail specialty pharmacy stores, specialty mail order pharmacies, mail order dispensing pharmacies, compounding pharmacies and branches for infusion and enteral nutrition services. Retail/LTC Segment The Retail/LTC segment sells prescription drugs and a wide assortment of health and wellness products and general merchandise, provides health care services through its MinuteClinic® walk-in medical clinics, provides medical diagnostic testing, administers vaccinations for illnesses such as influenza, COVID-19 and shingles and conducts long-term care pharmacy (“LTC”) operations, which distribute prescription drugs and provide related pharmacy consulting and other ancillary services to long-term care facilities and other care settings. As of September 30, 2022, the Retail/LTC segment operated more than 9,000 retail locations, more than 1,100 MinuteClinic locations as well as online retail pharmacy websites, LTC pharmacies and on-site pharmacies. Corporate/Other Segment The Company presents the remainder of its financial results in the Corporate/Other segment, which primarily consists of: •Management and administrative expenses to support the Company’s overall operations, which include certain aspects of executive management and the corporate relations, legal, compliance, human resources, information technology and finance departments, expenses associated with the Company’s investments in its transformation and enterprise modernization programs and acquisition-related integration costs; and •Products for which the Company no longer solicits or accepts new customers such as its large case pensions and long-term care insurance products.
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of CVS Health and its subsidiaries have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) regarding interim financial reporting. In accordance with such rules and regulations, certain information and accompanying note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) have been omitted, although the Company believes the disclosures included herein are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 (the “2021 Form 10-K”). In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods presented. Because of the influence of various factors on the Company’s operations, including business combinations, certain holidays and other seasonal influences, net income for any interim period may not be comparable to the same interim period in previous years or necessarily indicative of income for the full year.
Principles of Consolidation	Principles of Consolidation The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries and variable interest entities (“VIEs”) for which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. The Company continually evaluates its investments to determine if they represent variable interests in a VIE. If the Company determines that it has a variable interest in a VIE, the Company then evaluates if it is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. The evaluation is a qualitative assessment as to whether the Company has the ability to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance. The Company consolidates a VIE if it is considered to be the primary beneficiary. Assets and liabilities of VIEs for which the Company is the primary beneficiary were not significant to the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. VIE creditors do not have recourse against the general credit of the Company.
Reclassifications	Reclassifications Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year presentation.
Restricted Cash	Restricted CashRestricted cash included in other current assets on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets represents funds held on behalf of members, including health savings account funds associated with high deductible health plans. Restricted cash included in other assets on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets represents amounts held in a trust in one of the Company’s captive insurance companies to satisfy collateral requirements associated with the assignment of certain insurance policies. All restricted cash is invested in time deposits and money market funds.
Accounts Receivable	Accounts ReceivableAccounts receivable are stated net of allowances for credit losses, customer credit allowances, contractual allowances and estimated terminations
Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Credit Losses	When developing an estimate of the Company’s expected credit losses, the Company considers all available relevant information regarding the collectability of cash flows, including historical information, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions over the contractual life of the receivable. The Company’s accounts receivable are short duration in nature and typically settle in less than 30 days.
Contract Balances	Contract Balances Contract liabilities primarily represent the Company’s obligation to transfer additional goods or services to a customer for which the Company has received consideration, and include ExtraBucks® Rewards and unredeemed Company gift cards. The consideration received remains a contract liability until goods or services have been provided to the customer. In addition, the Company recognizes breakage on Company gift cards based on historical redemption patterns.
Related Party Transactions	Related Party Transactions The Company has an equity method investment in SureScripts, LLC (“SureScripts”), which operates a clinical health information network. The Company utilizes this clinical health information network in providing services to its client plan members and retail customers. The Company expensed fees for the use of this network of $16 million in each of the three-month periods ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, and expensed fees for the use of this network of approximately $47 million and $35 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Company’s investment in and equity in the earnings of SureScripts for all periods presented is immaterial. The Company has an equity method investment in Heartland Healthcare Services, LLC (“Heartland”). Heartland operates several LTC pharmacies in four states. Heartland paid the Company $22 million and $20 million for pharmaceutical inventory purchases during the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $66 million and $57 million for pharmaceutical inventory purchases during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Additionally, the Company performs certain collection functions for Heartland and then transfers those customer cash collections to Heartland. The Company’s investment in and equity in the earnings of Heartland for all periods presented is immaterial.
New Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted	New Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Insurance Contracts In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update 2018-12, Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts (Topic 944). This standard requires the Company to review cash flow assumptions for its long-duration insurance contracts at least annually and recognize the effect of changes in future cash flow assumptions in net income. This standard also requires the Company to update discount rate assumptions quarterly and recognize the effect of changes in these assumptions in other comprehensive income. The rate used to discount the Company’s liability for future policy benefits will be based on an estimate of the yield for an upper-medium grade fixed-income instrument with a duration profile matching that of the Company’s liabilities. In addition, this standard changes the amortization method for deferred acquisition costs and requires additional disclosures regarding the long duration insurance contract liabilities in the Company’s interim and annual financial statements. The standard is effective for public companies for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company will adopt the new standard on January 1, 2023, using the modified retrospective transition method as of the earliest period presented, January 1, 2021, also referred to as the transition date, for changes to the liability for future policy benefits and deferred acquisition costs. While the Company is still evaluating the impact of the new standard on its financial statements, the Company anticipates an increase to its liability for future policy benefits with a corresponding change in accumulated other comprehensive income on the transition date of approximately $1 billion as a result of updating the rate used to discount the liabilities to reflect the yield for an upper-medium grade fixed-income instrument compared to the Company’s expected investment yield under the existing guidance.

Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2022

The Company has four reportable segments: Health Care Benefits, Pharmacy Services, Retail/LTC and Corporate/Other, which are described below.

Health Care Benefits Segment

The Health Care Benefits segment operates as one of the nation’s leading diversified health care benefits providers. The Health Care Benefits segment has the information and resources to help members, in consultation with their health care professionals, make more informed decisions about their health care. The Health Care Benefits segment offers a broad range of traditional, voluntary and consumer-directed health insurance products and related services, including medical, pharmacy, dental and behavioral health plans, medical management capabilities, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement plans, PDPs, Medicaid health care management services and health information technology products and services. The Health Care Benefits segment’s customers include employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers (“providers”), governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. The Company refers to insurance products (where it assumes all or a majority of the risk for medical and dental care costs) as “Insured” and administrative services contract products (where the plan sponsor assumes all or a majority of the risk for medical and dental care costs) as “ASC.” In addition, effective January 2022, the Company entered the individual public health insurance exchanges (“Public Exchanges”) in eight states through which it sells Insured plans directly to individual consumers. The Company will enter Public Exchanges in four additional states effective January 2023. Open enrollment for the 2023 calendar year has begun in each of these twelve states.

Pharmacy Services Segment

The Pharmacy Services segment provides a full range of pharmacy benefit management (“PBM”) solutions, including plan design offerings and administration, formulary management, retail pharmacy network management services and mail order pharmacy. In addition, through the Pharmacy Services segment, the Company provides specialty pharmacy and infusion services, clinical services, disease management services, medical spend management and pharmacy and/or other administrative services for providers and federal 340B drug pricing program covered entities (“Covered Entities”). The Company operates a group purchasing organization that negotiates pricing for the purchase of pharmaceuticals and rebates with pharmaceutical manufacturers on behalf of its participants. The Company also provides various administrative, management and reporting services to pharmaceutical manufacturers. The Pharmacy Services segment’s clients are primarily employers, insurance companies, unions, government employee groups, health plans, PDPs, Medicaid managed care plans, plans offered on Public Exchanges and private health insurance exchanges, other sponsors of health benefit plans throughout the United States and Covered Entities. The Pharmacy Services segment operates retail specialty pharmacy stores, specialty mail order pharmacies, mail order dispensing pharmacies, compounding pharmacies and branches for infusion and enteral nutrition services.

Retail/LTC Segment

The Retail/LTC segment sells prescription drugs and a wide assortment of health and wellness products and general merchandise, provides health care services through its MinuteClinic® walk-in medical clinics, provides medical diagnostic testing, administers vaccinations for illnesses such as influenza, COVID-19 and shingles and conducts long-term care pharmacy (“LTC”) operations, which distribute prescription drugs and provide related pharmacy consulting and other ancillary services to long-term care facilities and other care settings. As of September 30, 2022, the Retail/LTC segment operated more than 9,000

retail locations, more than 1,100 MinuteClinic locations as well as online retail pharmacy websites, LTC pharmacies and on-site pharmacies.

Corporate/Other Segment

The Company presents the remainder of its financial results in the Corporate/Other segment, which primarily consists of:

•Management and administrative expenses to support the Company’s overall operations, which include certain aspects of executive management and the corporate relations, legal, compliance, human resources, information technology and finance departments, expenses associated with the Company’s investments in its transformation and enterprise modernization programs and acquisition-related integration costs; and

•Products for which the Company no longer solicits or accepts new customers such as its large case pensions and long-term care insurance products.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of CVS Health and its subsidiaries have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) regarding interim financial reporting. In accordance with such rules and regulations, certain information and accompanying note disclosures normally included in financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) have been omitted, although the Company believes the disclosures included herein are adequate to make the information presented not misleading. These unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto, which are included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 (the “2021 Form 10-K”).

In the opinion of management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair presentation of the results for the interim periods presented. Because of the influence of various factors on the Company’s operations, including business combinations, certain holidays and other seasonal influences, net income for any interim period may not be comparable to the same interim period in previous years or necessarily indicative of income for the full year.

Principles of Consolidation

The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its majority-owned subsidiaries and variable interest entities (“VIEs”) for which the Company is the primary beneficiary. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.

The Company continually evaluates its investments to determine if they represent variable interests in a VIE. If the Company determines that it has a variable interest in a VIE, the Company then evaluates if it is the primary beneficiary of the VIE. The evaluation is a qualitative assessment as to whether the Company has the ability to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance. The Company consolidates a VIE if it is considered to be the primary beneficiary.

Assets and liabilities of VIEs for which the Company is the primary beneficiary were not significant to the Company’s unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements. VIE creditors do not have recourse against the general credit of the Company.

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year presentation.

Restricted Cash

Restricted CashRestricted cash included in other current assets on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets represents funds held on behalf of members, including health savings account funds associated with high deductible health plans. Restricted cash included in other assets on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets represents amounts held in a trust in one of the Company’s captive insurance companies to satisfy collateral requirements associated with the assignment of certain insurance policies. All restricted cash is invested in time deposits and money market funds.

Accounts Receivable

Accounts ReceivableAccounts receivable are stated net of allowances for credit losses, customer credit allowances, contractual allowances and estimated terminations

Accounts Receivable, Allowance for Credit Losses

When developing an estimate of the Company’s expected credit losses, the Company considers all available relevant information regarding the collectability of cash flows, including historical information, current conditions and reasonable and supportable forecasts of future economic conditions over the contractual life of the receivable. The Company’s accounts receivable are short duration in nature and typically settle in less than 30 days.

Contract Balances

Contract liabilities primarily represent the Company’s obligation to transfer additional goods or services to a customer for which the Company has received consideration, and include ExtraBucks® Rewards and unredeemed Company gift cards. The consideration received remains a contract liability until goods or services have been provided to the customer. In addition, the Company recognizes breakage on Company gift cards based on historical redemption patterns.

Related Party Transactions

The Company has an equity method investment in SureScripts, LLC (“SureScripts”), which operates a clinical health information network. The Company utilizes this clinical health information network in providing services to its client plan members and retail customers. The Company expensed fees for the use of this network of $16 million in each of the three-month periods ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, and expensed fees for the use of this network of approximately $47 million and $35 million in the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Company’s investment in and equity in the earnings of SureScripts for all periods presented is immaterial.

The Company has an equity method investment in Heartland Healthcare Services, LLC (“Heartland”). Heartland operates several LTC pharmacies in four states. Heartland paid the Company $22 million and $20 million for pharmaceutical inventory purchases during the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and $66 million and $57 million for pharmaceutical inventory purchases during the nine months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Additionally, the Company performs certain collection functions for Heartland and then transfers those customer cash collections to Heartland. The Company’s investment in and equity in the earnings of Heartland for all periods presented is immaterial.

New Accounting Pronouncements Not Yet Adopted

Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Insurance Contracts

In August 2018, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update 2018-12, Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Long-Duration Contracts (Topic 944). This standard requires the Company to review cash flow assumptions for its long-duration insurance contracts at least annually and recognize the effect of changes in future cash flow assumptions in net income. This standard also requires the Company to update discount rate assumptions quarterly and recognize the effect of changes in these assumptions in other comprehensive income. The rate used to discount the Company’s liability for future policy benefits will be based on an estimate of the yield for an upper-medium grade fixed-income instrument with a duration profile matching that of the Company’s liabilities. In addition, this standard changes the amortization method for deferred acquisition costs and requires additional disclosures regarding the long duration insurance contract liabilities in the Company’s interim and annual financial statements. The standard is effective for public companies for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2022. The Company will adopt the new standard on January 1, 2023, using the modified retrospective transition method as of the earliest period presented, January 1, 2021, also referred to as the transition date, for changes to the liability for future policy benefits and deferred acquisition costs. While the Company is still evaluating the impact of the new standard on its financial statements, the Company anticipates an increase to its liability for future policy benefits with a corresponding change in accumulated other comprehensive income on the transition date of approximately $1 billion as a result of updating the rate used to discount the liabilities to reflect the yield for an upper-medium grade fixed-income instrument compared to the Company’s expected investment yield under the existing guidance.