Nearly 24 million Americans have Medicare coverage, says HHS Secretary

In the USA, nearly 24 million Medicare beneficiaries now have prescription drug coverage, including more than 2.6 million people who signed up for the new stand-alone prescription drug coverage in the last 30 days, according to a US Department of Health and Human Services statement on January 17. This number comes on top of the 1 million who enrolled in stand-alone plans in the first 30 days of the program.

"Enrollment in the new Medicare drug benefit is exceeding our expectations and keeping us on track to reach our goal of 28 to 30 million enrollees in the first year," said HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt, adding: "we are filling a million prescriptions a day, and seniors are saying the benefit is saving them money."

While the system is working for most seniors, Mr Leavitt said some seniors are experiencing problems getting their prescriptions filled and added: "we are working as quickly as possible to resolve these problems, and no senior should leave the pharmacy without the prescription drugs they need."