Though admittedly not its most emblematic feature, one rather remarkable aspect of the French Revolution was its ambitious orientation towards the provision of social welfare, including medical care. Following a period of great deprivation, the French revolutionaries “endeavored to set up a national system of social assistance, inclusive of health care,” as the great historian of medicine George Rosen wrote; they furthermore “called attention to the need for assistance, inclusive of medical care, in neglected areas and for neglected groups in the population.”

Alas, as Rosen and others have noted, they also violently undercut the inadequate but at least functional system of church-based charitable care — before their own sweeping projects ever came close to fruition. Good intentions were insufficient, and it was the poor and ill who suffered the consequences.

With both Bastille Day and a decision in King v. Burwell — the case now before the Supreme Court that may threaten the viability of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) — soon to be upon us, this episode seems reasonably relevant. The Affordable Care Act isn’t — and is never going to be — adequate for delivering health care justice. At the same time, the sudden withdrawal of private health insurance from millions of Americans would be a human travesty that no sensible left should countenance, much less celebrate.