Canadians don’t come to U.S. for health care

The old story about Canadians coming to the U.S. for health care turned up in a June 24 letter (“to avoid their government's waiting list”) and again in a July 24 letter (“if they can afford to do so.”) True? No. A study by U.S. and Canadian researchers published in “Health Affairs: the Policy Journal of the Health Sphere” concludes that “The cross-border flow of care-seeking patients appears to be very small ... unrelated to waiting time or to leading-edge technology ...”

The researchers found that “the vast majority of services provided to Canadians were emergency or urgent care, presumably coincidental with travel to the United States for other purposes.”

For instance, Canadians like Raymond McEwan, who (according to a June 11 Washington Times article) “was wintering in Port Richie, Florida, when he checked into a hospital ... .” The problem was an infected gallbladder, requiring surgery. McEwan was “terrified ... that he would be stuck with an American hospital bill.”

But to save money, McEwan's private Canadian insurance company paid $20,000 for his brief U.S. hospital stay and a private flight home. According to the Canadian Snowbird Association, “the first thing a Canadian (heading south) thinks about is supplemental health insurance,” adding that U S. hospital bills can top $100,000, “especially when surgery is involved.”

Harland Nelson

Decorah