WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama's health secretary publicly apologised on Wednesday for the rocky rollout of the US health care law's new website, stressing that citizens "deserve better" from the system.

"Let me say directly to these Americans: You deserve better. I apologise. I'm accountable to you for fixing these problems,"

Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, the seniormost administration official to testify before Congress, told a closely-watched House panel.