Ed Kutler, an aide to Speaker Newt Gingrich, said tonight that he could not comment on Mr. Clinton's Medicare proposals because he and other Republicans had not seen them. "Administration officials come in with piecemeal proposals," he said, "but we are waiting for their entire plan to balance the budget in seven years. We will look at the Medicare proposals in the context of the entire plan."

It is difficult to compare the savings that would be achieved by Mr. Clinton against those projected by the Republicans. The White House has estimated the savings from each of its proposals, but most of the numbers were deleted from documents made available tonight.

The White House numbers are based on calculations by the White House Office of Management and Budget. The Republicans' savings were estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. The two agencies have different assumptions about the economy and the effects of various proposals, so their figures are not directly comparable.

Thus, for example, President Clinton said tonight that his proposals would cut projected spending on Medicare by $124 billion over seven years. The Republicans say the President's proposals would actually cut $192 billion from the amounts that would otherwise be spent, according to the projections of the Congressional Budget Office. The Republicans say their own Medicare proposals would save $270 billion.

President Clinton said he would keep monthly Medicare premiums lower than the Republicans had proposed. The monthly premium is now $46.10. Under Mr. Clinton's plan, it would drop to $42.50 in January, then rise gradually to $77 in 2002. By contrast, the Congressional Budget Office says that under the Republican plan, the premium would rise to $53.70 next year, then climb gradually to $88.90 in 2002.