WASHINGTON — Woody Hayes, Ohio State University's legendary football coach, used to complain that throwing a forward pass could have only three possible outcomes and that two of them--an interception or an incompletion--were bad.

Similarly, analysts assessing the health care debate raging on Capitol Hill see three plausible outcomes, but only one would provide an unqualified boost for Democratic incumbents this November: the adoption of reform legislation with some measure of Republican support.

Indeed, developments in the House last week suggest that unless the Democrats can fashion a health care reform bill that wins the votes of GOP lawmakers, along with the backing of conservatives in their own party, they may not be able to pass any bill at all.

This bipartisan approach, some Democrats said, could turn out not only to be a necessity on Capitol Hill but a virtue on the campaign trail.

With bipartisan backing, "everybody will be able to say: 'We accomplished something,' " contended Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, whose clients this fall include House Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.), House Majority Leader Richard A. Gephardt (D-Mo.) and House Democratic Caucus Chairman Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.). "That takes it out of the realm of partisan politics and gives it a sort of Good Housekeeping seal of approval."

Of course, as most analysts agree, a second possible outcome--health care reform muscled into the statute books solely by Democratic votes--probably would be better for President Clinton and his party than the third outcome: no bill at all.

The last result would represent a dramatic setback for Clinton and other Democrats. It would mean that the President had failed to keep his promise to reform the health care system. It also would call into question his ability to redeem his broader pledge to break the gridlock between Congress and the White House that prevailed during the term of President George Bush.

To avoid such a debacle, some Democrats have talked of pushing health care legislation through with or without Republican votes--and even without the support of some of the more conservative members of their own party.

Nevertheless, even after the $33.2-billion crime bill was defeated on a procedural vote Thursday, some Democrats optimistically recalled that last fall they were able to pass Clinton's economic plan without any Republican help at all.