BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC)- Today we got our first-ever comprehensive look at what hospitals around the country charge for different procedures, and the newly-released data shows some big gaps in what different hospitals in our area charge for the same procedure.

Hospitals protect this cost information like KFC protects its recipe, but as part of the healthcare overhaul, the government today released thousands of pages of documents showing what hospitals charge Medicare and Medicaid for different procedures.

Before we show you the data, there are a couple of important things to remember.

These costs are what the hospitals charge the government, not what they charge healthcare insurance companies who often negotiate deep discounts as part of their contracts.

And as you'll see, there is a big difference between what a hospital charges and what the government ends up actually paying.

JEFFERSON COUNTY, AL (WBRC)- We are learning more about the investigation of a Jefferson County Revenue Department employee. Fox6 obtained video of a female employee apparently taking cash from a taxpayer to move him to the front of the tag line.

We have learned that the employee has been fired and another source tells us criminal charges will be filed in this case. We also now know the employee shown in our video was not working alone.

County leaders say this latest incident casts another dark cloud over Jefferson County.

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WBRC)- A Jefferson County Revenue Department employee has been placed on leave after appearing to accept money to move a customer to the front of a car tag line.

The video was exclusively obtained by FOX6 News and prompted an investigation by the county and by the sheriff's department.

Click here to watch the entire video.

How We Got the Video

We've all seen the video on TV, hundreds of people in line, waiting for hours to get their license plates and license renewals at the Jefferson County Courthouse.

A Fox6 viewer sent us the video. We'll call him Joe. We are not disclosing his identity.