He says he used wifi, TV, telephone, and asked for a better room. If he didn't ask for this, I think he wouldn't have pay anything. The French hospitals offer a lot of paid bonuses. I think it's a good thing, it allows to make the basic needs free.

True. In Spain it would be 100% free.

Maybe he has some kind of private health insurance. Here it's very common when you have kids or you don't want to wait for your turn for non critical medical assistance.