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