As a former American, you do not want the American Health Care System unless you are very wealthy. It is an expensive bureaucratic disaster. BC Health may be imperfect but at least I am not paying us$700/month for family insurance that might be accepted by the doctor/hospital that sees me in an emergency.
The article is not clear. Is the $71k price listed the cost of the surgery itself or surgery + hospital stay?
If it is just surgery then it is a very unfair comparison since the ICU stay would have been needed in either case, and at least some of the days in the ward for recovery.