Better Health for All
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CVS Health demonstrates a strong commitment to "Better Health for All" through its core operations and targeted initiatives. Its MinuteClinics saw over 5.5 million patient visits in 2022, offering over 125 preventive care services.
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Acquisitions like Oak Street Health have led to a 50% reduction in hospital admissions, and the Transform Diabetes Care program reduced average blood sugar levels for 80% of participants.
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The company has exceptional mental health programs, including developing PCP training for youth suicide prevention, offering mental health services in MinuteClinics, and expanding crisis support services.
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A grant in San Antonio increased client engagement with post-referral counseling from 29% to 47%.
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CVS Health provides comprehensive healthcare workforce development, opening three new training centers in 2024, streamlining employment for over 1,500 individuals, and providing over $1 million in scholarships for healthcare students in 2023-2024.
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Its data practices are excellent, with internal governance, confidentiality, and use of data to identify health disparities.
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Comprehensive health education is provided through pharmacists, who are accessible to 90% of Americans, and Project Health, which increased health knowledge for nearly 70% of participants.
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The company undertakes excellent addiction mitigation efforts, including facilitating smoking cessation medications and investing over $1.2 billion in affordable housing developments that connect residents to addiction recovery services since 1997.
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The company does not hold healthcare-related patents or produce food products as its core business.
Fair Money & Economic Opportunity
-10
The Federal Trade Commission reported that CVS Health inflated drug prices by $7.3 billion from 2017 to 2022
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, which increased patient out-of-pocket costs by $279 million in 2021
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, with annual increases of 14% to 21% since 2017
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. A lawsuit in May 2020 also alleged the company overcharged for generic drugs by submitting inflated prices for reimbursement while offering lower cash prices to uninsured customers
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, indicating a lack of transparency and complex pricing structures. While CVS Health announced new models, CostVantage and TrueCost, set to launch in 2025
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, to simplify and clarify prescription drug pricing, these are future initiatives. As a healthcare company, CVS Health primarily focuses on pharmacy and insurance services and does not provide direct consumer lending, deposit services, or debt products. Consequently, the company does not offer lending or deposit services to consumers
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, has no revenue from high-cost financial products, no dedicated inclusion programs, no direct impact on customer credit or savings outcomes, does not provide debt products, and does not operate financial service access points.
Fair Pay & Worker Respect
-30
The company had 16 substantiated labor-law violations between 2022 and 2025
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, including 15 OSHA violations with penalties
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and a $1.25 million fine in 2024 for understaffing claims in Ohio
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. The CEO-to-median employee pay ratio was 299:1 in 2024
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. As of December 31, 2024, 5.3% of employees were covered by collective bargaining agreements
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, and the company faced unfair labor practice charges in 2024 for alleged unlawful surveillance, retaliation, and prohibiting union activity
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. Voluntary employee turnover was 27.3% in 2024
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. The rate of recordable occupational injuries (TRIR) was 1.580 per 200,000 hours in 2024
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.
Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing
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CVS Health conducted over 800 social compliance factory audits in 2024.
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These audits identified one child labor issue and one forced labor/human trafficking issue in 2024.
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For these "Zero Tolerance" issues, factories are immediately put on probation and orders are canceled.
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Factories are required to undergo routine audits every 6-12 months.
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In 2023, 19.5% of CVS Health's sourceable procurement spend was directed to diverse and small business suppliers.
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Honest & Fair Business
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CVS Health faced a $5 billion settlement in 2022 related to accusations of filling unlawful opioid prescriptions and billing federal health programs.
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As of December 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a new lawsuit alleging similar conduct, claiming the company ignored red flags and billed federal programs for illegal opioid prescriptions.
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In January 2025, Oklahoma's attorney general filed a complaint against CVS Caremark for under-reimbursing independent pharmacies.
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Multiple class action lawsuits were filed in 2023 and 2024, alleging securities law violations and false or misleading statements regarding the profitability of its Health Care Benefits segment.
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State attorneys general also sued CVS Health in May 2024, accusing the company of submitting false and fraudulent claims to state Medicaid programs by not providing usual and customary drug prices.
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A False Claims Act whistleblower case against CVS Caremark, alleging inflated drug prices reported to Medicare Part D Plan Sponsors, was set to proceed to trial in April 2024.
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The company has also been subject to governmental audits and investigations concerning patient chart review processes and prescription processing practices.
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In September 2023, community pharmacies sued CVS Caremark over alleged antitrust violations and unlawful collection of fees.
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In May 2024, CVS Health revised its earnings guidance downward, citing increased expenses related to legal matters and payments related to legal settlements.
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Kind to Animals
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CVS Health completed its transition to sourcing 100% cage-free eggs across all U.S. stores by the end of 2022, fulfilling an accelerated commitment.
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The company states it does not test any store brand products or ingredients on animals and does not outsource this activity to third parties, implying zero animals are used for these operations.
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CVS Health also has policies requiring its suppliers to adhere to laws and policies against animal testing.
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However, CVS Health's own brand products are not certified as cruelty-free by recognized third parties.
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The company has engaged in animal welfare policy by consulting and collaborating with The Humane League to establish its cage-free egg policy.
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No War, No Weapons
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CVS Health's core business is healthcare, pharmacy services, and insurance, which inherently contrasts with military activities.
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The company does not have direct or indirect involvement in arms manufacturing or military contracts, nor does it generate revenue from activities that facilitate war or violence.
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Its supply chain involves pharmaceuticals and consumer health products, with no apparent connections to military or dual-use technologies.
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Consequently, there are no dual-use items to screen, and no defense assets to divest.
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The company has no exposure to any weapons.
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While CVS Health supports veterans and military families through hiring nearly 12,500 individuals with military experience and over 3,400 military spouses since 2015
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, and awarded $580,000 in grants in November 2017 for veteran healthcare access
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, it does not explicitly engage in initiatives aimed at conflict resolution or peacebuilding.
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Planet-Friendly Business
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Total Scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions were 11,941,605 tCO2e in 2024.
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Net-zero GHG emissions targets across the value chain by 2050 have been validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi), including a 47% reduction in absolute Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2030.
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In 2024, 5.28% of total power use was sourced from renewable sources.
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The overall waste diversion rate was 50% in 2024, and 5% of products made with plastic contained recycled content in the same year.
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The company has a net-zero emissions target across its value chain by 2050, and for its direct operations by 2048, with a commitment to carbon neutrality by 2030.
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TCFD recommendations have been embedded within the company's strategy since 2021, and TCFD-aligned climate risk processes are integrated into enterprise risk management.
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A climate scenario analysis was completed in 2023, utilizing IPCC Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) for physical climate change and Network for Greening the Financial Sector (NGFS) scenarios for transition risk and opportunity, including a pilot financial quantification of two climate-related issues.
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In 2024, 17% of water withdrawn was from regions with High or Extremely High Baseline Water Stress.
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In 2024, the company launched a first-of-its-kind, nationwide environmental health impact initiative to support people most vulnerable to extreme weather events through personalized health interventions.
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Respect for Cultures & Communities
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CVS Health has established at least seven formal partnerships with local community groups and organizations representing specific cultural communities.
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These include collaborations with Meharry Medical College, Sinai Chicago, and Wayne State University through its Community Equity Alliance, launched in January 2023, to address healthcare disparities.
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The company also partners with disability advocacy organizations like the American Association of People with Disabilities
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, faith-based organizations such as Christian Methodist Episcopal churches
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, and nursing associations including the National Black Nurses Association and the National Association of Hispanic Nurses
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. Additionally, there are no reported cultural appropriation incidents.
Safe & Smart Tech
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CVS Health has demonstrated significant shortcomings in data protection, cybersecurity, and responsible AI. In March 2021, an unsecured database containing over 1 billion records, including visitor IDs and search histories, was discovered online, indicating negligent security practices.
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The company also faced a class-action lawsuit in July 2024 for using AI-powered 'lie detector' tests in job interviews without candidate knowledge or consent, highlighting a severe lack of AI ethics governance, algorithmic transparency, and privacy-by-design.
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Furthermore, a December 2023 congressional probe revealed CVS Pharmacy's practice of disclosing patients' medical records to law enforcement without warrants, indicating unauthorized data use and a lack of user data control.
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This practice also points to gaps in regulatory compliance and undermines digital rights. While CVS Health has committed to voluntary AI safeguards, including informing individuals when AI generates information, these are future pledges.
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The company does undergo assessments for HIPAA and NIST 800-53 compliance.
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Zero Waste & Sustainable Products
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CVS Health diverted 50% of its total waste from landfills in 2024.
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As of December 31, 2024, 45.5% of store brand product components are designated as reusable, recyclable, or compostable.
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In 2024, 16% of the plastic used in products contained post-consumer recycled content.
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The company achieved a 9.6% decrease in total plastic used from 2023 to 2024.
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CVS Health applies circular design principles, offering refillable and compostable packaging for over-the-counter medication through its Cabinet partnership in over 700 stores
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and expanding reusable storage bags and compostable dinnerware in its Total Home lines.
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The company has implemented numerous waste reduction initiatives, including eliminating over 345 million paper receipts in 2024,
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diverting 17,000+ lbs of food waste at its Woonsocket HQ,
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collecting 1.9M+ lbs of unwanted medications,
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and recycling over 580,000 pounds of carpet in 2024.
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Hazardous waste is managed through safe disposal options for prescription medications
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and tracking of regulated waste.
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Material efficiency was improved by reducing the number of totes shipped to stores by 37% at its Lumberton distribution center.
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CVS Health has ambitious waste reduction targets, aiming to reduce plastic use in operations by 50%
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and ensure all store brand packaging is 100% reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2030.
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The company requires store brand suppliers to adhere to RSPO principles for palm oil
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and has communicated expectations for paper carton packaging to be from recycled or sustainably sourced content by 2025.
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Customer waste education is provided through How2Recycle labeling on 86% of Store Brand products by the end of 2024
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and information on medication disposal.
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