They can follow the conventional alternatives to save money: restricting payments to doctors and hospitals, or requiring beneficiaries to pay more in co-payments or premiums.

Congress would limit the role of Medicare home health and create a gaping no-care zone by requiring beneficiaries to wait 60 days between episodes of home health care.

"Requiring beneficiaries to share the cost of home health services encourages them to use care more prudently," said Mr. Thomas, the chairman of the conference committee.

The commission will study proposals that would, for example, increase the age of eligibility for Medicare and require higher-income beneficiaries to pay higher premiums.

The House endorsed a more complicated plan that would require affluent beneficiaries to spend more of their own money before they could get Medicare coverage of catastrophic drug costs.

Both the House and Senate bills would require beneficiaries to pay supplemental premiums, on a sliding scale based on ability to pay.

At the same time, however, the Federal welfare law passed last year requires beneficiaries to work 25 hours a week in 1999, and 30 hours in 2000 and beyond.

And Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is requiring beneficiaries to work cleaning streets or offices in order to continue receiving benefits.

Senate Bill 529 [4] was strongly advocated by Senator Chip Rodgers and requires beneficiaries of many state services to provide proof of residency.

Areas of one's communities which require assistance and beneficiaries must be a Muslim's foci if need be, rather than strictly her or his personal or superficial wants.