Help for Woman who Reached Out to Obama

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says an unidentified third party group that helps indigent people with medical problems will assist a woman who emotionally told President Obama she had been unable to obtain health insurance or hold a job.

Another administration official says the private group contacted the White House after it saw Mr. Obama's conversation with 53-year-old Debby Smith during a health care reform program yesterday in Annandale, Virginia. A tearful Smith told Mr. Obama about her battle with kidney cancer.

Following the meeting she told reporters she was still unsure whether she would receive the treatment she needs. An official says the White House is "optimistic" that Smith will be helped.

At yesterday's event, the president hugged Smith and described her as "exhibit A" in his quest to reform a health care system that is often too expensive and complicated for millions of Americans.

Smith, from Appalachia, Virginia, has served as a volunteer for Organizing for America, the Obama political effort linked to the Democratic National Committee. Like many of the other participants in yesterday's carefully orchestrated event, she had some connection to the administration or its political allies. Mr. Obama fielded questions that were chosen by his own staff but officials insisted he did not have prior knowledge of the queries.

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Peter Maer is a CBS News White House correspondent. You can read more of his posts in Hotsheet here.