Published: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 1:12 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, May 8, 2013 at 2:03 p.m.

The amount that North Bay hospitals charge for the same procedures varies widely from one facility to another, according to data released Wednesday by the federal government.

For example, a procedure to replace a major joint or reattach a lower extremity can cost $44,278 at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Santa Rosa, but up to $136,762 at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, according to data released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The data was released to the public to help make the U.S. health care system more affordable and accountable, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

Currently, consumers don't know what a hospital is charging them or their insurance company for a given procedure, like a knee replacement, or how much of a price difference there is at different hospitals, even within the same city, Sebelius said. This data ... will help fill that gap.

Hospitals nationwide are included in the comparisons, which focus on the 100 most common Medicare inpatient stays. In another example, treatment for poisoning and toxic effects of drugs cost $15,092 at Ukiah Valley Medical Center and $40,828 at Marin General Hospital, the report said.

There are large parts of our health care system that just don't make a lot of sense, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, a statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition. The health care pricing and prices make no sense to both lay people and experts, and there needs to be a reform of how providers are paid.

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Cost of health care varies widely at North Bay hospitals