Former Senator Bill Bradley (D-NJ) writes in the New York Times today, offering a "grand compromise" on health care:
The bipartisan trade-off in a viable health care bill is obvious: Combine universal coverage with malpractice tort reform in health care.
Universal coverage can be obtained in many ways — including the so-called public option. Malpractice tort reform can be something as commonsensical as the establishment of medical courts — similar to bankruptcy or admiralty courts — with special judges to make determinations in cases brought by parties claiming injury. Such a bipartisan outcome would lower health care costs, reduce errors (doctors and nurses often don’t report errors for fear of being sued) and guarantee all Americans adequate health care.
It will be interesting to see if anyone picks up on this idea. Conservatives should come to realize that some sort of mandate is inevitable. If you need car insurance to get on the road, you should have health insurance before you get into public places. And liberals should come to realize that trial lawyers, in their current form, are the antithesis of every honest egalitarian value that the left holds dear.