One week before the enrollment deadline for the Medicare prescription drug program, 20.7 million beneficiaries had enrolled in the new Part D benefit, about 8.6 million enrollees shy of the goal, the government reported yesterday.

The numbers were current as of Monday, exactly one week before the deadline of next Monday, and it is unclear whether the gap can be filled in the final week.

"We're still getting calls from people who don't know what they're doing yet," said Fred Griesbach, state director for AARP Pennsylvania. "When we look at the Pennsylvania numbers, there are three or four counties where it's just inexplicable why there aren't more people enrolled."

But officials from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stressed that some 37 million beneficiaries had drug coverage of some sort. That includes about 9.9 million people covered by retiree plans sponsored by employers, unions or the federal government.

There are about 42.5 million people in the Medicare program.

"I am very pleased with this increase in enrollment," said Mike Leavitt, secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "We have a real opportunity to make history and have prescription drug coverage for 90 percent of people with Medicare in the first year."

The government's number for people with drug coverage includes those with benefits from the Veterans Administration, the Indian Health Service and other programs. Critics questioned the inclusion of those groups in the government's tally, arguing that some people in the programs also could have signed up for Part D and that others might not actually receive drug benefits from the programs.

"Prior to the launch of the drug benefit, 17.7 million people with Medicare had no or only limited prescription drug coverage," said Robert M. Hayes of the Medicare Rights Center.

"Today, contrary to the administration's flawed enrollment reports, about 10 million ... continue to lack drug coverage."

The new numbers coincided with another round of political arguments in Washington, D.C., with Democrats calling again for an extension to the May 15 deadline. Republicans have said the deadline was necessary, and urged Democrats to help seniors choose a plan.

As it now stands, a Medicare recipient who doesn't enroll by May 15 will pay a penalty of 1 percent of the average monthly premium for each month the beneficiary lacks coverage after the deadline.

For recipients who fail to sign up by Monday, the next enrollment opportunity comes in November, with benefits beginning in January. In such cases, the monthly Part D premium for those seniors who sign up during the next enrollment period would include a 7 percent penalty.

Some Medicare recipients are exempt from the penalty, including people who already have coverage at least as good as Part D and low-income recipients who qualify for federal subsidies to join the program.