More than 37 million American seniors have signed up for Medicare's new prescription drug program, including close to three-quarters of a million Utahns.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt announced the new enrollment figures on Wednesday, just five days away from the deadline to sign up for coverage.

"I am pleased at that increase in the enrollment," Leavitt said during a morning conference call with reporters. "With the help of so many we have been able to make history."

The number is well over Leavitt's original goal of 28 million to 30 million Americans taking part in Medicare Part D, which marks the first time the government program has offered prescription drug coverage.

For a program in its first year, the number of people who have signed up so far is noteworthy, said Mark McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

"We're very pleased that the enrollment among low-income seniors is running well ahead of enrollment in other historic programs," such as food stamps, Social Security and Medicaid, McClellan said Wednesday.

Seniors who wish to take advantage of the new program must sign up by midnight Monday. Otherwise, they must wait until the next open enrollment period that begins on Nov. 15. A penalty will apply to those who wait.

Leavitt, Utah's former governor, is on a 24-city tour this week, visiting with seniors and encouraging them to take part in the program. And although close to 90 percent of all eligible seniors have either signed up for the program — many of them low-income seniors who were automatically enrolled — or chosen to stay with other plans that offer drug coverage, he understands that not everyone will choose to sign up.

"This is a voluntary program," he said. "We're not going to get to 100 percent because some people, for reasons that are personal to them, will just choose not to enroll."

But for those who do, he said, "we're doing everything we can to make sure that people who want to sign up can sign up."

In Utah, seniors who need assistance can call Salt Lake County Aging Services at (801) 468-2480 or log on to www.mymedicarematters.org. They can also call 1-800-MEDICARE or visit www.medicare.gov.

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E-mail: awelling@desnews.com