The debate over health care reform is ugly, and the victims are the American people. We have a 2000+ page bill which most legislators have not even read. Health care reform is being held back by partisan quibbles that have only gotten worse as the sides have polarized.

The heart of bipartisanship is compromise by meeting in the middle. Inherently, each side must give up a little if they want to get anything. The problem with the way compromise has manifested in this debate is that each side has gutted their opponent’s reforms. Democrats have eliminated tort reform and won’t allow insurance to be sold across state lines. The public option has been neutered to the point where it will hardly cover anyone. The polarization is so great that an olive branch is no longer possible. The bill doesn’t contain provisions to prevent illegal immigrants from getting free health care. Republicans say that means illegal immigrants are covered. Democrats say that means they’re not. Nothing gets done.

The path to compromise is revolting to most, but it must be done. The trigger to the public option is the key to an effective bipartisan bill.

Rather than have both sides cannibalize the reforms of the other, let’s split the bill in two parts. The first part is the Republican reforms, to fix the system we have. The second is the Democratic reforms, most notably a robust public option to throw the current system out. The third and most crucial part is the trigger.

The Republican part of the bill can fix the current system in a way that’s not been tried before. The state of health care has gotten steadily worse. The only tested solutions have been more regulation and bigger government. Even the reforms proposed by Republicans are compromised. Everyone wants to cover more of the uninsured. The free market way of doing that would make the market freer, so costs could drop and more people can choose to buy health care. The Republican reforms can include tort reform and deregulation of insurance plans.

Health insurance companies are monopolies. No, really. The Supreme Court ruled it is perfectly within Congress’s power to bust them, but Congress has been too frail to act. They wanted to improve insurance companies by letting them grow big, so that they can take advantage of the economies of scale. The problem is that the free market fails to be free in this scenario. Choice decreases, competition decreases, and prices skyrocket. Americans spend over twice as much on health care than any other country. Without this reform, any effort to increase competition is a joke. Free market idealists argue that the market should take care of this, but it has not occurred yet.

Interestingly, the lack of reform has been supported by the Democrats. When Hillary Clinton tried to get major health care reform passed during her husband’s administration, the industry funded the famous Harry and Louise ads that helped ruin public opinion and sink reform. Clinton learned her lesson and made a deal with the devil.

The Democratic part of the bill can be whatever they want. If they want to reduce drug patent life, tax small business, or punish drug company execs, let them do it. They can make a robust public option: Medicare for all, available even if you already have insurance.

The trick is where the two bills get sewn together. Both sides can work together to agree when the judgment has been made. The threat of the public option will also incentivize the industry to fix things.

Democrats and Republicans are in the mindset of a doctor. They’ve taken the Hippocratic oath to “Do no harm.” Legislators need to realize they are not doctors. The heart of my bipartisan bill is this: let the other side hurt the American people, because my reforms will be here to catch them. The Democrats believe the Republican reforms will be disastrous. Don’t worry about it. If you’re right, you’ve just proven them wrong, and you can catch them with the soft and fluffy public option and gloat all around town. Republicans think the current system isn’t beyond repair. So repair it. Then you’ll never have to trigger the public option and you’ve just proven the socialists wrong. Find me a better nail in the coffin for Obama’s reelection.

Effective compromise is built on agreement. As much as everyone disagrees, they share one common belief that can never be shaken, “I’m right and you’re wrong.” I feel healthier already.