October 24, 1985

A former accountant for New York City and a Brooklyn businessman were indicted yesterday on charges of scheming to embezzle more than $300,000 in Medicaid funds from the city. A former city caseworker was named as a co-conspirator in the Federal indictment. It was announced yesterday by Rudolph W. Giuliani, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Patrick W. McGinley, the city's Investigations Commissioner, at a City Hall news conference with Mayor Koch.

A 19-year-old woman charged with pushing a stranger into the path of an oncoming subway train Tuesday was released as a psychiatric patient from Kings County Hospital Center less than a month ago against the recommendation of doctors who treated her. Hospital officials said the woman, Mary Ventura, who was involuntarily committed to the hospital's psychiatric services last summer, was released two months later after a court hearing. She was represented by lawyers for Mental Health Information Service, a patients' rights group. ''The mental hygiene law says that anyone who wants to be released and requests it in writing gets a court hearing,'' said Dr. Luis Marcos, vice president for mental hygiene services at the City Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs the Kings County center.

President Reagan bowed to overwhelming Congressional pressure today and endorsed a resolution that would bar an arms deal with Jordan until March 1, unless Israel and Jordan begin ''direct and meaningful peace negotiations'' before then. The resolution was drafted by Senate leaders to head off a defeat for the Administration, and President Reagan agreed to it while in New York, where he is for ceremonies marking the 40th anniversary of the United Nations. The measure is scheduled for a Senate vote on Thursday and is expected to get nearly unanimous approval. 'Real Test' for Hussein Opponents of the arms deal in the House of Representatives reacted positively to the Senate compromise, but said they wanted to study it further.

The Economy A rise in September's consumer prices will mean more money for tens of millions of Americans next year because of laws adjusting Social Security and the Federal income tax for inflation. But the 0.2 percent rise means the smallest increase in payments to Social Security, 3.1 percent, since the payments were ''indexed'' in 1972. A median-income family of four will save $81 in taxes. [Page D1.] Costs in the New York-northeastern New Jersey region rose 0.4 percent. [D6.] Durable goods orders fell 1.1 percent in September, continuing a seesaw pattern affected by the military category. [D6.] The Ways and Means Committee voted to limit a tax shelter enjoyed by big banks. The House panel also planned weekend meetings that could make or break the push for tax revision. [D1.]

The United Automobile Workers and the Chrysler Corporation reached a tentative contract early this morning that erases most of the concessions the union granted in Chrysler's financial crisis of 1979-82. If members approve the contract in voting over the weekend, the week-old strike by 70,000 workers could end Monday. The agreement, which came after a 42-hour bargaining session at Chrysler headquarters here, provides for immediate bonuses of over $2,000 for each active Chrysler worker and $1,000 for each retired worker, as well as pay and benefit increases to match workers at General Motors and Ford. $1 Billion in Labor Costs The raise in the first year is to be 2.25 percent. In the second year workers will not get an increase in base pay but will get 2.25 percent paid in a lump sum. In the third year, the raise will be 3 percent.