Ms. Huber's condition has improved over the years, to the point where she no longer uses a wheelchair and even takes mile-long walks. But she hasn't been able to return to work - not because of physical impairment, but for fear of losing her government health coverage. For years, the disability community has lived in dread of "the cliff," the earnings point-of-no-return beyond which government benefits are permanently taken away. Under current regulations, disabled people who earn more than $700 a month -- well below the poverty line - are ineligible for Social Security Disability Insurance; three years after they start earning that much, Medicare cuts out. They would still be eligible for Medicaid, but would have to meet certain poverty qualifications limiting their assets. If their annual salary exceeded roughly $18,000 - an amount that could be swallowed up by medical costs in just a few months - they would lose Medicaid. New Safety Net But all of that is about to change. Earlier this week, the House ofRepresentatives voted 412-9 in favor of legislation that allows people with disabilities to go to work without losing their government health benefits.

With the Work Incentives Improvement Act now headed to a joint committee of the House and Senate, there's bound to be wrangling over funding, which is expected to top $750 million over five years. However, the bill has enjoyed tremendous bipartisan support - the Senate version passed in June with a vote of 99-0 - and has been a favorite issue of President Clinton's.

Supporters of the bill are hopeful he will sign it by Christmas. In anticipation of the change, scores of disabled people across the country, most unemployed for years, have begun dusting off their resumes and reconsidering careers. Ms. Huber, suddenly nervous and giddy at the age of 47, now spends early mornings in her home in Casper, Wyo., poring over the help-wanted ads in the Casper Star-Tribune. She has applied for jobs as a college adviser, librarian, curriculum planner, university administrator, and for a writing residency. "Whether it's dishwashing or directorship," she says, "I need to attempt this for the person I think I still am." The Job Hunt Lesslie Williams of Kula, Hawaii, hasn't worked full-time in the 13 years since learning of her mixed connective tissue disease. But now she is advertising online for her skill as a Web-page designer, and has started doing free-lance work. And Jim Rice of Shawnee, Okla., a former construction worker who has been unemployed since he suffered a spinal-cordinjury in a car accident three years ago, has applied for management slots at a local Lowe's Corp. home-improvement store. "I could at least be the boy by the door who rolls around and shows people where things are," he says. With national unemployment running at 4.2% in September -- the lowest rate since 1970 -- employers are eager to tap the ranks of the nation's estimated 15 million severely disabled people, nearly three-quarters of whom don't work.