It's a fact of life in California health care the clout wielded by the state's big hospital chains.

Now California's attorney general has launched an antitrust investigation into some of the state's top hospital chains and their affiliated physicians' groups, to see if consolidation means inordinately higher prices.

Sacramento's Sutter Health and San Francisco's Dignity Health are among those getting subpoenas from Attorney General Kamala Harris, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

Quoting anonymous sources, the Journal said the probe began several months ago. Lynda Gledhill, Harris' press secretary, wouldn't confirm or deny the story.

But one of the hospital chains targeted, Scripps Health of San Diego, confirmed it has received a subpoena "related to antitrust issues. We understand other health systems throughout the state have been contacted, as well."

Health care economist Joanne Spetz said it isn't surprising regulators would be looking at hospital chains in Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego, which she called "the most consolidated markets in the state."

"Sutter and Dignity really have the Sacramento and San Francisco areas pretty well locked up, particularly Sacramento," said Spetz, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco. "More consolidated hospital markets have higher fees," she added.

Sutter declined to confirm if it had received a subpoena. A Dignity spokesman couldn't be reached for comment.

Patrick Johnston, president of the California Association of Health Plans, an insurers group, said Northern California hospitals are usually costlier than Southern California's.

Consolidation isn't the only factor, but "generally there is more competition in Southern California," he said.

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Report: Sutter Health probed