HEALTH CARE . . . YET ANOTHER BILL

A bipartisan group in the House offered a rival health-care bill the backers say would neither raise taxes nor require employers to pay for workers' insurance. The catch: it wouldn't come close to achieving universal coverage -- even by President Clinton's ever-looser standards. By 2004, when the real changes would kick in, the program would cover 5 percent more Americans than are covered now, leaving 26 million people without insurance. Whatever happens, the bill comes at an awkward time for House leaders, who are trying to clear Majority Leader Richard Gephardt's bill by next week. Today, they admitted the House debate could drag on for an extra week.