Washington (AP) Incoming Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Daschle is polling the public in his effort to push through serious health care reform in the early days of the Obama administration.

Since mid-December, people across the country have held thousands of meetings set up by President-elect Barack Obama's transition team to air grievances about the health care system.

At a meeting in Washington on Tuessday, Daschle said the volume of people looking to participate "is an indication of the degree of severity and concern that people have all over the country." The meetings resemble Congress' 2005 and 2006 efforts. Back then, the Citizens Health Care Working Group heard from more than 6,600 people at 84 meetings around the country and more than 14,000 in an Internet survey. But, the group's recommendation's weren't acted on.

Daschle is hoping that a deteriorating health care system means his plans won't suffer the same fate.



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