Earnings Per Share (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Reconciliation of basic and diluted earnings per common share
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share (in shares)	10.9	7.7	9.9	6.4
Numerator for earnings per share calculation:
Income from continuing operations	$ 1,285	$ 1,542	$ 3,344	$ 3,613
Income allocated to participating securities	(3)	(7)	(12)	(18)
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest		(1)	(1)	(2)
Income from continuing operations attributable to CVS Health	$ 1,282	$ 1,534	$ 3,331	$ 3,593
Denominator for earnings per share calculation:
Weighted average shares, basic (in shares)	1,016.0	1,068.0	1,022.0	1,076.0
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	4.0	5.0	4.0	6.0
Weighted average shares, diluted (in shares)	1,020.0	1,073.0	1,026.0	1,082.0
Earnings per share from continuing operations:
Earnings per share, basic (in dollars per share)	$ 1.26	$ 1.44	$ 3.26	$ 3.34
Earnings per share, diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 1.26	$ 1.43	$ 3.25	$ 3.32