Excerpt: A.P. (via NYTimes.com). it's teh libertarian choice thing:

Paul is scheduled for surgery at Shouldice Hospital, which touts itself as a world leader in "non-mesh hernia repair." [....]

"This is a private, world-renowned hospital separate from any system and people come from around the world to pay cash for their services," Paul spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper said in an email Monday.

In choosing Shouldice, Paul will receive care in a country that offers its citizens a publicly funded, universal health care system that runs counter to Paul's approach to American health care policy. Paul, who ran for president in 2016, touts private-market approaches for U.S. health care problems.

Paul's chief strategist, Doug Stafford, pointed to Shouldice Hospital's private status in pushing back against media reports about the senator going to Canada for treatment. "It's literally the opposite of socialized medicine," he tweeted.

The hernia procedure is estimated to cost $5,000 to $8,000, the court document said.

this part of that story is interesting apart from the health issue; prosecutors apparently really want to see a message sent:

The surgery is related to the 2017 attack, the court document says. Boucher pleaded guilty to assaulting a member of Congress and was sentenced to 30 days in prison. Federal prosecutors are appealing the sentence, saying 21-months would have been appropriate.