There has been more than one article posted on FR that indicated the main reason a lot of these senior citizens died is twofold. It's not just their socialist health care system, but also that it's August, which most French people get to take off ALL 31 DAYS OF for vacation. So millions of them were all "on holiday" at the beach hundreds or thousands of miles away and they didn't want to come home to take care of sick Grandma just because she was complaining "it's too hot." They told Granny to call the government for help instead, and remained on vacation. Well, the government didn't help, and Grandma died, because the average French person appears to have lost all sense of personal responsibility.
It didn't help that many Europeans are so arrogant about their "wonderful weather" that they've never bothered to install air conditioners in their homes. So when things do get hot, they're screwed.