While liberals and conservatives remain at odds over which presidential candidate will best serve the nation, former Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.) and current Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) crossed party lines Thursday to discuss the future of the nation's health care system. The two politicians spoke in a forum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Few issues loom over the 2008 election quite like America's failing health care system. According to the AARP, 22% of Americans are uninsured or under insured, 50% of all bankruptcies occur in part because of unpaid health care bills and 1/4 of ranchers and farmers struggle to pay health care premiums for themselves and their families.

Both men said bipartisan health care reform would be the best approach to the present health care problem.

"This is not a Democratic problem," Hagel said. "This is not a republican problem. This is an American problem. Why can't we find some way together to do this?"

Because health care is an American problem, Hagel said it should be regulated by the federal government instead of at the state level.

"We are going to have to move forward with a bold reform policy on health care," Hagel said. "That will include health insurance, it will include costs. It will include the federal government's involvement."

Kerrey agreed with Hagel. He said lawmakers should work to change federal law so that health care is no longer a privilege to only those who can afford it.

"One of the challenges we have is that all of us want quality health care, but often times the definition of high quality health care is unaffordable," Kerrey said.

Kerrey backs Barack Obama's insurance plan which seeks to provide government sponsored health care to all Americans who want it. It will work in conjunction with the existing employer sponsored plans. But skeptics say this plan supports socialism.

"It's not socialism," Hagel said. "It's reality. Now, that's where we are. You can take any philosophy about socialism, capitalism and so on. But right now we have to work toward what will fix America and a government sponsored program will."

Both Kerrey and Hagel said a hybrid of Sen. Barack Obama's and Sen. John McCain's plans will work best to mend the broken health care system. They says Obama's plan may be best as an immediate action, but that McCain's plan may work best in the future.

They stepped across the aisle and say other politicians, including the presidential candidates, will have to as well if they truly want America's health care system to work.