eae

GINSBURG, FELOMAN, WEIL AND BRESS

Mrs.

Ruth Van

December 15,

Page Two

Cleve

1980

nize the shortcomings of the study's two plans and propose a
third plan.
The Loma Linda study proposed two five-year budgets

for the operation of comprehensive primary, secondary and

tertiary health care programs in the Marshall Islands -- one

for the entire Marshall Islands
33,000)

(population approximately

and one for the people of the four atolls of Bikini,

Enewetak, Rongelap and Utirik (population approximately 3,000).
The budget figures are as follows:

wore

Entire Marshall

Islands

Four Atolls

Year 1

$10,908,200

$10,603,700

Year 2

$12,103,300

$11,917,100

Year 3

$14,824,100

$14,598,200

Year 4

$18,120,500

$17,766,700

Year 5

$21,124,500

$20,700,000

See pages 104 and 110 of the Loma Linda study.

The differences between these two programs are miniscule.

According to the Loma Linda study,

the five-year cost of the

four-atoll program would be $75,585,700.

For an incremental

cost increase of less than 2 percent -- $1,494,900 -- comprehensive health care could be provided for all the Marshall
Islands.
The reason for the slight difference is simple:
The
Loma Linda study interpreted the "people" of the four atolls
to include all the people of such atolls, wherever they may

be residing.The "peoples" of Bikini, Enewetak, Rongelap

and Utirik are now living on approximately one-half of the

26 atolls in the Marshall Islands, including the heavily
-populated atolls of Majuro and Kwajalein, so that over 75%

of the present Marshallese people have members of the fouratoll populations among them.
As a result, the Loma Linda
projections for a four-atoll program closely parallel its
projections for a comprehensive program.

While Loma Linda's cost projection for a comprehensive

program may be realistic, they seem to make no sense when

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