How much is a TB test?
There is no national price for a TB test that this site can date and cite: Medicare's national outpatient price lookup does not cover it, and no free national price for it with a date of its own could be found. So the prices below are what named hospitals publish, including the price each will accept from a patient paying cash. A TB test is one of two different tests, and they are priced very differently. For the skin test, CPT 86580, Boston Medical Center publishes a gross charge of $63.00 and a cash price of $28.35 in its file dated 13 March 2026. Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes $36.40 for the facility in its file dated 9 September 2025, and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $33.00 in its file dated 1 April 2026. For the blood test, CPT 86480, the same three files publish $170.00 with a cash price of $76.50 at Boston Medical Center, $386.50 at Franklin Memorial Hospital, and between $159.00 and $453.00 at The University of Chicago Medical Center, depending on which of its lines is billed.
$63.00 list, $28.35 cash
CPT 86580, the TB skin test, at one hospital on 13 March 2026
$170.00 list, $76.50 cash
CPT 86480, the TB blood test, at the same hospital
$386.50
the same blood test code at a second hospital, facility charge, list and cash alike
Cost breakdown
Each table below comes from one source, named underneath it, with the date that source last revised the figures. Everything is a United States figure in USD.
TB tests at Boston Medical Center, from its file last updated 13 March 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 86580 | HC Chg Skin Test Tuberculosis Intradermal | $63.00 | $28.35 |
| 86480 | HC Chg TB Cell Mediated Antign Respnse Gamma Interferon | $170.00 | $76.50 |
| 86481 | HC TB Test Cell Mediated Antigen Response, Enum Gamma Interfron T-Cell | $428.00 | $192.60 |
TB tests at Franklin Memorial Hospital, from its file last updated 9 September 2025
| CPT and billing class | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price | Plan rates, the file's minimum to maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 86580, facility | HC SKIN TEST TB INTRADERMAL | $36.40 | $36.40 | $10.92 to $106.34 outpatient |
| 86580, facility | TUBERCULIN PPD 5 UNIT/0.1ML ID SOLN | $50.29 | $50.29 | $15.09 to $106.34 outpatient |
| 86580, professional | CHG SKIN TEST TUBERCULOSIS INTRADERMAL | $22.00 | $22.00 | $9.29 to $20.90 |
| 86480, facility | HC TCELL MEDIATED ANTIGN RESPNSE GAMMA INTERFERON | $386.50 | $386.50 | $68.87 to $363.31 outpatient |
| 86480, professional | TB TEST CELL IMMUN MEASURE | not published | not published | $61.98 to $129.88 |
| 86481, facility | TB AG RESPONSE T-CELL SUSP | not published | not published | $100.00 to $330.81 |
TB tests at The University of Chicago Medical Center, from its file last updated 1 April 2026
| CPT | Description, as the file prints it | Gross charge | Cash price | Plan rates, the file's minimum to maximum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 86580 | Hc Skin Test; Tuberculosis, Intradermal | $33.00 | $33.00 | $12.78 to $105.40, seven plan entries |
| 86480 | Hc Quantiferon Tb Test Gold | $159.00 | $159.00 | see the last row |
| 86480 | Hc Tb Cell Mediated Immunity Measurement | $453.00 | $453.00 | see the last row |
| 86480 | Hc Quantiferon Tb Test Gold-Laf, and Hc Tb Cell Mediated Immunity Measurement-Laf | $263.00 | $263.00 | see the last row |
| 86480 | Tb test cell immun measure | not published | not published | $61.98 to $624.59, seven plan entries |
| 86481 | Tb ag response t-cell susp | not published | not published | $100.00 to $1,006.85, seven plan entries |
Skin test or blood test
| Skin test | Blood test | |
|---|---|---|
| How it is done | A small needle puts testing material under the skin | A blood sample |
| Coming back | Yes: you return in two to three days so the reaction can be read | The CDC page names no return visit to read it |
| Also called | Tuberculin skin test | Interferon-gamma release assay, or IGRA |
A bar for each row of the table above, 3 of them, drawn to the same scale so the spread is visible at a glance. The figure beside each bar is the one the table prints.
What changes the price
- Skin test or blood test
- This is the biggest difference on the page. Boston Medical Center publishes $63.00 for the skin test and $170.00 for the blood test, and Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes $36.40 and $386.50 for the same two codes.
- Which line the hospital bills
- The University of Chicago Medical Center carries the blood test, CPT 86480, on four lines at $159.00, $263.00 and $453.00. Franklin Memorial Hospital carries the skin test on two facility lines, the test at $36.40 and the tuberculin solution at $50.29. Ask which line a quote is for.
- Whether you are paying cash
- Boston Medical Center publishes a cash price of $28.35 for the skin test against a gross charge of $63.00, and $76.50 for the blood test against $170.00. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish the same figure for cash as for list.
- Whether you have insurance
- Plan rates can sit well under or well over the list price. The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes plan rates for 86480 with a minimum of $61.98 and a maximum of $624.59, against chargemaster prices of $159.00 to $453.00.
How to pay less
- Ask which test is required
- If a skin test is accepted, it is the cheaper code at all three hospitals here. The CDC says you return in two to three days for the reading, which matters if each visit carries its own charge.
- Ask for the cash price by name
- Boston Medical Center publishes cash prices well under its gross charges. The other two hospitals publish no cash discount, so the answer is worth checking against the file.
- Ask a retail clinic or the health department for its price in writing
- Pharmacies, walk-in clinics and many local health departments offer TB tests. None of them is required to publish a federal price file, so the only way to compare is a written quote.
Questions
How much is a TB test without insurance?
Ask the hospital or clinic for its cash price before you book. Hospitals must publish a discounted cash price where they offer one, and the files quoted on this page show those prices beside the list price. With insurance, what you pay depends on your plan's negotiated rate, your deductible and your coinsurance, so ask your insurer for an estimate.
How much is a TB test?
For the skin test, CPT 86580, Boston Medical Center publishes $63.00, Franklin Memorial Hospital $36.40 for the facility and The University of Chicago Medical Center $33.00, each in its own dated and attested file. The blood test costs more at all three.
How much is a TB test without insurance?
That is the cash price where a hospital publishes one. Boston Medical Center publishes $28.35 for the skin test and $76.50 for the blood test. Franklin Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago Medical Center publish the same figure for cash as for list.
How much is a TB blood test?
For CPT 86480, Boston Medical Center publishes $170.00 with a cash price of $76.50, Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes $386.50 for the facility, and The University of Chicago Medical Center publishes $159.00 on its QuantiFERON line and $453.00 on another line for the same code.
How much is a TB test with insurance?
Your share of what your plan has agreed with the hospital. Franklin Memorial Hospital publishes plan rates for the facility skin test with a minimum of $10.92 and a maximum of $106.34 outpatient, and for the facility blood test with a minimum of $68.87 and a maximum of $363.31.
Why is a TB blood test so much more expensive?
It is a lab test on a blood sample, and it is billed under a different code from the skin test. Boston Medical Center publishes $428.00 for 86481, the other blood test method, against $63.00 for the skin test.
Why does a hospital have to publish this?
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services requires every hospital operating in the United States to publish a comprehensive machine-readable file of all items and services and a consumer-friendly display of shoppable services, states that it audits a sample of hospitals and investigates complaints, and states that hospitals may face civil monetary penalties for noncompliance.
Where these figures come from
Every figure here is published by the hospital named beside it, in US dollars, in the United States, in its own machine-readable standard charges file under 45 CFR 180.50, and each file carries the attestation that the information encoded is true, accurate and complete as of the date in the file. The dates are the ones the files give themselves: 13 March 2026 for Boston Medical Center, attested by Christopher Abate, 9 September 2025 for Franklin Memorial Hospital, attested by Kenneth Olsen, and 1 April 2026 for The University of Chicago Medical Center, attested by Chris Allen. All three files were downloaded a second time after the reading of 25 September 2026, and each was byte-identical to that copy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention page on how the two tests work, last updated 17 June 2024, was read again on 9 October 2026 and still says the same, and MedlinePlus, review date 13 December 2025, describes the skin test the same way. BEFORE ANY CODE WAS QUOTED, THE DISTINCT PUBLISHED PRICES FOR IT WERE COUNTED PER CODE AND PER BILLING CLASS. Where one code carries more than one price, every price is shown with the line it sits on. Where a file publishes no gross or cash figure, the page says "not published". Plan rates are what a plan pays the hospital, not what a patient owes, and their minimum and maximum are the fields each file prints. Nothing here is averaged or restated as a typical cost, and three hospitals are three hospitals rather than a national picture. Pharmacy and walk-in clinic prices are not shown because none of those sellers publishes a filing of this kind.