The new Medicare prescription drug program still isn't generating a lot of enthusiasm among many of the nation's seniors.

A Kaiser Family Foundation survey of 802 people age 65 or older found 37 percent of them have an unfavorable view of the program, 31 percent like it and 31 percent don't know enough about it to have an opinion.

In the survey, most seniors underestimated the number of drug plan choices that they will have, with just 5 percent correctly identifying that they will have more than 20 options for receiving their drug coverage.

When informed that "the government has announced that most people on Medicare will have at least 40 different drug plans to choose from," 73 percent of respondents said that having many plans "makes it confusing and difficult to pick the best plan," while 22 percent said it is "helpful and provides an opportunity to choose the best plan."

Foundation president Drew Altman said seniors are still having a hard time with their options. He said they aren't really prepared for it, and they're going to need a lot of help making the choices the law requires.

A Medicare official said the top reason people are not enrolling in the program is because they already have drug coverage.

But among those who don't have coverage, only 28 percent said they'll enroll in the new plan. Twenty-three percent said they won't enroll, and 49 percent don't yet know.

People can begin signing up for the program Tuesday.

• Kaiser Family Foundation Survey