Dear Editor:

Rep. Bruce McDonald's retort published last week in the Register under the heading “Re: Debunking MacDonald” raises many Obamacare related questions. But the one I would like to address is in response to his statement “... there will be more use of family doctors, and less use of emergency rooms, as the Massachusetts example shows.”

If I understand the data and predictions correctly, because of Obamacare and especially the formula for physician and hospital reimbursement for services rendered, there will be a serious departure of current doctors from the scene and a gap in the number of new doctors to fill the ranks.

Seems to me that there is a dichotomy involved here, Bruce. More demand but less supply — of doctors, that is. How do we handle that?

Dennis C. Brown
Villa Rica, Ga. and Boothbay