How much does a hospital charge Medicare when you undergo a given procedure? Depends on where you go. Say you want a new pacemaker: At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the average bill in 2011 was about $140,496. But the U.C. San Diego Medical Center charged Medicare an average of $41,023 for the same procedure.

So how do you find out who is cheapest?

KPCC has created this searchable database that will allow you to compare the average charge for the 100 most frequently billed procedures paid under Medicare in 2011, which you can view by hospital or as a statewide average. It's based on data released in May by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as a way to make it easier for patients to comparison shop for hospital services by price.

A caveat: The data shows a wide variation in average bills, but experts note that the amounts billed have little bearing on what you actually pay. You will see that difference in the amount shown as the "average reimbursement" for a procedure, which is the average amount actually paid to the hospital.

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