Region of Peel logo

Search

Region of Peel logo

Tubersol funding

Information about available funding for Tubersol used to identify tuberculosis.

Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage

Medically necessary Tuberculosis (TB) skin tests and documentation are covered by OHIP for people:

  • Who have been in contact with someone with infectious TB (contacts of active TB).  
  • Who are 65 years or younger and are entering long-term care. The TB skin test is not recommended for people 65 years or older.
  • With the following conditions:
    • HIV
    • Silicosis
    • Stage 4 or 5 chronic kidney disease with or without dialysis
    • Transplant recipients (solid organ or hematopoietic)
    • Cancer (lung, sarcoma, leukemia, lymphoma or gastrointestinal)
    • Diabetes
    • Granulomas on chest x-ray
    • Immunosuppressing drug treatment (tumor necrosis factor alpha inhibitors or steroids)
    • Heavy tobacco or alcohol use
  • Who require TB screening for admission or continuation by an educational institution for a child care or preschool program, or a program of study in a school, community college, university or other educational institution.

For more information, refer to INFOBulletin archive for number 4692.

Publicly funded Tubersol

Publicly funded, or government-funded Tubersol can only be used in circumstances where a TB skin test is funded by OHIP.

Uninsured TB skin tests

Tubersol provided by the government is not to be used for uninsured TB skin tests. When uninsured testing is performed, the testing solution should be either:

  • Acquired by a primary care provider and sold to the patient at a direct cost (with reasonable mark-up to account for any indirect costs (e.g., storage, administrative, etc.).
  • Acquired by the patient from the pharmacy, via prescription provided by a primary care provider.

To search for a pharmacy that carries Tubersol, patients can be directed to the Ontario College of Pharmacists’ website find a pharmacy.

Patients can search for clinics that provide TB skin tests. Enter postal code, select the travel category and select PPD (Mantoux testing) in the drop- down box).

Billing OHIP for TB testing

Information about when it’s appropriate to bill OHIP for TB testing can be found in the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) Physician's Guide to Uninsured Services January 2025 edition, page 20 and is published with permission of the OMA.

Additional information