viii ABSTRACT OF THE FIVE-YEAR COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH PLAN I. AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE: Everywhere in the world there is a trend of increasing cost for all services. This is true for health care services, too. In the United States, the Congress passed Public Law 93-641 in 1975 in an effort to deal with the problem of rising medical costs and equal availability and accessibility of quality of medical care to all segments of the population. This Law raquires al] States of the Union to develop comprehensive health plans which must be approved by appointed authorities in the States in order for each State to be eligible to receive funds from the “Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Under this Law, a State Health Coordinating Council has the legal} mandate to revise and approve the State Health Plans. The Law also designated the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands as a "State" under the same requirements. The responsibility of the development of the Territorial Health Plan was entrusted by the High Commissioner to the Department of Health Services, which in turn designated the Office of Health Planning within the Depart- ment to be responsible for the development of the Health Plan. In the effort to make the Territorial Plan more responsive to the needs of the C41b00¢ different Districts, the Office of Health Planning decided to first develop a Health Plan for each District and then to use each District Plan as a basis for the development of the Territorial Plan. Under this Law, the Micronesia Health Coordinating Council, with members from each District, was formed to be the legal authority responsible for the revision and approval of the Plan. Marshallese members of the Council