I live in Washington State and do consulting engineering in several cities on the Boarder with British Columbia. I have often heard about Canadians "jumping the que" to get real and quick medical service in the US rather than waiting and possibly dying up in Canada.
I can just imagine someone finding a lump they think could be cancerous and waiting for a biopsy, ultrasound, CATScan, or Xrays for several weeks. If that were me or my wife, I would come down to the US immediately get it looked at rather than waiting in psychological agony for many days to weeks prior to having laboratory reports to settle things one way or the other.
There is a North American shortage of cheap health care. That inexpensive health care is either rationed by the availability. You either have to wait for it which will depress the demand for some health care or you need to charge higher prices for it and that will depress the demand for it.
I lived in Bellingham for awhile and there were a lot more docs per capita than I would have expected. It was due to the Canadians crossing over to pay for them.
That's the case for the affluent. Consider that on average Canadian salaries are 30% lower (i.e. $50K US salary is CAN$50000) and Canadians taxes way higher.
Canadian health system is good as long as you don't need it. Classic Ponzi scheme, relies on good faith of investors.
Once you get sick, you figure it out. Government has taken the money away from you through the exorbitant taxes and gives little in return (e.g. wait for cardiologist 3-6 months, unless you die earlier). And you have neither private funds nor private health plan in place.
Splurging of funds is rampant. For example, the biggest cost for running the hospital in Canada is NON-DOCTOR salaries. Cleaners are paid like rocket scientists and unions are preventing outsourcing.
At the same time, one can see medical staff dressed in operation room uniforms taking the subway to work. Unheard of even in Third World countries.