I used to work in healthcare cost and utilization analysis. The 40 million uninsured Americans have nothing to do with French health care. As a side point, I'd like to note that the uninsured (like me) still have access to health care, and it's free, if you're poor. (Poor in America mean an income of less than $16,000 for a family of 3.) In addition, most of these people are between ages 18 and 40, and the bulk of them are men. They don't usually need insurance.
I would rather be paying fee-for-service in America than getting 'free' health care from any socialist system I'm aware of. I value my health, and my doctor values my money. In a socialist system, where the doc gets my money no matter what quality of service I get, there seems to be some sort of disconnect. I don't mean to disparage the professional ethics of any healthcare provider working in a socialist system, but in my experiance the profit motive is much more motivating than social duty.
As far as drug research goes, America isn't the only country with a large pharmaceutical research component; the Swiss and British both have large drug industries - that makes, what, nearly 2% of the countries in the world?
I've been told by MD's that heat stroke is hard to recognize if you've never seen it before. Also, these were really abnormal temperatures in Europe. I'm not really surprised by the lack of AC in homes; here in Seattle, which has a climate like Britian, AC is rare, and only used by those who have it in their homes an average of 6 days per year. I have a friend with a $3,000,000 home - he built it without AC. However, I can't imagine building a hospital or office building without good AC. I think the inflated price of electricty in France might have had something to do with that.