Broadly speaking, I agree with you that lack of housing can lead to increased mortality, whether from greater exposure to violence from other transients, heat o

Broadly speaking, I agree with you that lack of housing can lead to increased mortality, whether from greater exposure to violence from other transients, heat or cold stress, greater drug use caused by stress, making it harder to get attention to medical issues, or other factors. I also think some of the population is homeless because of medical issues, such as severe mental illness, and those are a risk factor that lead to early death and contribute to the statistic you cited. At the same time, I continue to think it is unsurprising that a group of 5 specific people with existing cancer (brain cancer no less!) and severe kidney issues died, and suspect they would have died regardless. The 5-year survival rate for people with a cancerous brain or CNS tumor is apparently 36%; in an elderly person on medicaid (if anything), whether housed or not, I suspect it is less. In other words, I don't think we disagree, but think that this is a bad group of 5 individuals to use to advocate the issue...