HEALTH CARE . . . PUBLIC BLAMES GOP, WANTS SOME REFORMS

The American public, surprisingly keen on some form of health insurance reform, blames the Republican Party more than President Clinton or Democrats for failing to deliver in 1994, according to a new poll by Newt Gingrich's favorite pollster. But the survey -- conducted by Frank Luntz for a consortium of major hospitals, managed-care companies and pharmaceutical firms that actively opposed the Clinton plan -- says the public would still favor a GOP-backed plan, sight-unseen, over any new Clinton initiative, 44 to 32 percent. Although few people expect Republicans to deliver anything next year, the poll indicates there's still an appetite for change: Seven of eight surveyed said they wanted basic reforms to allow workers to stay insured if they lose their jobs, and to bar insurers from turning them down because of pre-existing conditions or illnesses. TIME health care writer Janice Castro adds that "health insecurity has eaten deeply into the middle class. The thought that nobody's safe from losing insurance is still out there. People worry a little bit less about it because they're doing better, but that truth is still there because business continues to cut back on its traditional shouldering of this burden."