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Hospitals on the US side of the border still see hundreds of Canadians every month.

Your rhetoric is foolishness .

Canadian "medicare refugee myth" debunked in major US study

Canadians are not rushing across the border to purchase medical care in the United States, a new study based largely on American data has concluded. In fact, the use of American medical facilities by Canadians is "so small as to be barely detectable."

The authors of "Phantoms in the snow: Canadians' use of health care services in the United States" — the article appeared in the May/June issue of Health Affairs,
the most influential US health policy journal (www.healthaffairs .org/freecontent/v21n3/s6.htm) — conclude that debate over the issue has been driven by politics,
not facts.
They drew this conclusion from a telephone survey of ambulatory care facilities in heavily populated US urban areas bordering Canada (Buffalo, Detroit and Seattle)
and from statewide hospital discharge data from Michigan, New York State and Washington State. Author Steven Katz of the University of Michigan and his
colleagues created a catchy label for the "phantom hordes of Canadian medical refugees" by tagging the notion a "policy zombie" — an idea that is intellectually dead
because there is no evidence to substantiate it but somehow manages to live on because it is useful to certain powerful interest groups.

Of the US ambulatory facilities surveyed, 40% reported seeing no Canadians and a further 40% had seen fewer than 10.

Only 5% of facilities had seen more than 25 Canadians in the previous year,

From 1994 to 1998, 2.3 Canadians were admitted to hospital in the 3 US states studied for every 1000 admissions in the 3 neighbouring Canadian provinces.

Moreover, 80% of the stateside admissions were prompted by emergencies and pregnancies.

"Less than 5% of Canadians feel they are denied access to health care because of cost," he argues. "The equivalent figure in the US is 24%."

Fraser Institute survey of 2700 Canadian physicians' experiences with waiting lists suggests there has been a modest increase in the number of people looking for
treatment in the US. "We asked what percentage of their patients have gone to the US for help. The figure used to be 1% percent, and it has risen to 1.5%

http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/167/5/524

W. Gifford-Jones, himself a Canadian doctor, wrote a column for The Evening Telegram (St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada) entitled, "Public's Appetite Too Ravenous for Free Medical Care.'" He stated: "Mrs. Clinton take note. Many hospital beds in Canada have closed due to a lack of government funding. Operating rooms stand idle at certain times in a desperate effort to save money. Cutbacks are evident in every hospital service. It's meant that some Canadians have become more familiar with the U.S. But they're not tourists on their way to the Grand Canyon. Rather, they've crossed the border for bypass surgery and other procedures to avoid long waiting lists in Canada.

But not only patients cross the 49th parallel. Some of the best physicians and surgeons have fled south, due to inadequacies in the system. One doctor who moved to Buffalo, N.Y., told me, Now I'm considered part of the solution. In Canada I was considered part of the problem.'" Furthermore, scores of wealthy and well-connected Canadians come to the United States for surgery because they cannot get timely, quality service in Canada's own nationalized health care system.

There is lots more should you wish. Stay healthy up there!