I-TEAM

Minneapolis (WCCO) ― One hospital charges $11,000, and another charges $4,800 -- both to deliver a baby.

The I-TEAM discovered no one could explain why these charges are so different. WCCO-TV consumer reporter Terri Gruca unraveled the mystery and showed how consumers can keep a pulse on their purse strings.

Mary Ann Schreder can bake with the best. When she's not making something special for one of her 12 grandchildren, she dotes on her husband, Irv Schreder. Very seldom does he do anything domestic.

This 70-year-old woman isn't ready to slow down, but six months ago, she started feeling tired. Diagnosed with internal bleeding and anemia, her doctor prescribed Procrit to help, and it did. Then Schreder saw the same shot she received at St. Cloud Hospital cost $600 less at the Mayo Clinic.

"I just wonder who's regulating this," Mary Ann Schreder said. "Isn't there somebody to check on the prices? Why can't it be more fair?"

Julius Edlavich asked the same question after he broke his arm falling off a ladder and needed surgery.

"When I got my bill, it was just the number," Edlavich said. "There was no itemized statement of what they did for you. It was $24,000."

Edlavich did what consumers should do: He asked for details of his bill. He said he was charged for a Cryo Cuff -- an arm sling -- he did not receive.

"They billed me for a Cryo Cuff for about $450, and I never got a Cryo Cuff," Edlavich said.

Getting to the bottom of what hospitals charge can be complicated. WCCO-TV asked 11 different hospitals across Minnesota to provide the average charges for eight common procedures and found charges for the exact same procedure can cost consumers more depending on where they go.

Having a baby? Charges to deliver by C-section can vary by $9,500. Mayo Clinic, Methodist and Allina Hospitals charge between $14,000 and $17,000. Fairview Hospitals and St. Cloud charge between $8,000 and $13,000.

The charge to have an appendix removed can vary by $8,800. Allina's charges run at the high end, around $17,000. Methodist, Mayo Clinic and St. Cloud are at the low end, between $8,000 and $10,000.

Even the charge for a private hospital room varies by $890. Methodist and all the Fairview Hospitals' charges are at the high end, between $1,300 and $1,600. St. Cloud and Mayo Clinic are at the low end, between $800 and $1,000.

Consumers who have insurance don't pay the full charge, often just a co-pay or deductible. But employers and health insurance companies are footing more of the bill, and face it -- consumers are the ones who are already paying the price in the form of higher premiums, higher co-pays and higher deductibles.

There's another catch. If consumers lose their insurance or can't afford it, they pay the entire charge, like 400,000 Minnesotans.

St. Cloud CEO Craig Broman said most hospitals welcome scrutiny from patients concerned about their bills, because this is a tough subject.

"I'd like to simplify the process," Broman said.

Broman said there is no exact formula for what hospitals charge; it's complicated. Broman said hospitals consider "how much Medicare, how much Medicaid, how much commercial insurance, how much private pay and how much charity care that we provide."

Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch said the problem is all the consumers get are numbers.

"We're still trying to figure out what they mean," Hatch said.

As head attorney for the state, even Hatch has trouble getting answers.

"They don't like to talk about this, no," Hatch said. "They're not happy right now. Why, though? Because these figures are so wrong, they make no economic sense, they know it, they can't justify it."

Wisconsin is making it much easier for people to compare charges. The state just launched a Web site where consumers can check charges on 470 different types of medical procedures at 120 hospitals. It even lists average prices across the state, and the information will be updated quarterly.

Minnesota has no list, no such Web site. The state does require hospitals to provide pricing information for consumers who ask, so consumers should.

Julius Edlavich knows more than most patients. He is also a doctor who runs his own pediatric clinic.

"It's not easy to figure out what to charge patients, but basically I try to just stay within the limits of what the insurance companies seem to want to pay for different things," Edlavich said.

Hospitals remain reluctant to spill all the beans. Take aspirin, for instance. Hospitals here charge anywhere from 25 cents to a little more than $4. Yet only one hospital would tell WCCO-TV what it pays: only a penny. Shocking, if you're the one paying 25 cents or $4.

Even if consumers are insured, like Mary Ann Schreder is, they have to worry somewhere down the line, someone's going to pay -- and that person is going to be the consumer.

"Why can't it be more fair?" Mary Ann Schreder asked. "Why does it have to be so high for certain areas?"

The Minnesota Hospital Association plans to launch a Web site later this year that will give access to quality and patient safety information, not prices. That could change because of the popularity of Wisconsin's new Web site.

If consumers can't afford to pay -- whether they have insurance or not -- some hospitals have programs set up to help patients, and they need to ask about them.

Allina and Fairview Hospitals told WCCO-TV money will not get in the way of care, and financial counselors will help work out the bills.

(WCCO)