Note: People who want to get involved can look at the Facebook group here OR email kaekalwaic@gmail.com
Volunteers to help collect Medicare for All signatures are welcome.
Kae also just migrated her newsletter to Substack, so INSTEAD OF subscribing to mine, please subscribe below!!
Interview Summary
Who is Kae Kalwaic
Kae Kalwaic taught at Nether Providence High School before joining the education department at Swarthmore College in the early 2000s. Her Medicare for All activism grew directly out of what she witnessed working at the college — employees with health coverage who still couldn’t afford their medications, discussions about working conditions held in whispers despite the college’s Quaker values, and a living wage campaign that taught her healthcare and wages are inseparable.
The Swarthmore Living Wage Campaign
When Kalwaic joined the effort, the starting wage was $5.50 an hour. Students drove the campaign — researching, organizing petitions, hosting guest speakers, meeting with staff and faculty. Despite having a billion-dollar endowment, the college resisted for four years. Eventually, after faculty joined the push, the college agreed to $10.38 an hour. The campaign’s connection to healthcare was direct: workers who had coverage still couldn’t afford their medications. That realization pushed Kalwaic from living wage organizing into Medicare for All advocacy.
The 2019 Meeting with Mary Gay Scanlon
Kalwaic organized a delegation of physicians, union reps, and community members to meet with Scanlon. The testimony included policy details, personal cancer stories, and quotes from scripture. Kalwaic wrote afterward that “only the coldest of hearts could not be moved.” Scanlon’s primary objection was the impact on the 1.5 million workers employed by the private healthcare industry. She declined to co-sponsor. What Kalwaic has since learned: giving every healthcare industry worker two years of severance pay after passing Medicare for All would still be cheaper than the current system.
The Petition Campaign
After the 2019 meeting failed to move Scanlon, Kalwaic decided in 2025 that a new strategy was needed. She started collecting signatures herself — at senior citizen events, protests, clubs, festivals, and Democratic committee meetings. She has spoken to Democratic committees in Lansdowne, Springfield, Upper Chichester, Mid County, Aston, Clifton, Ridley, Upper Darby, Marple Newtown, and Haverford. All were welcoming. Only Swarthmore Dems turned down her request to speak. Nether Providence Democrats have not responded to three written requests. She now has over 1,700 signatures. The response rate has been around 90% of people she asks — higher than national polling on Medicare for All, which sits around 69-70%.
The Scanlon Donor Question
Kalwaic raised what she considers the core problem directly: check her donors. Scanlon takes money from corporate PACs including firms that represent hospitals and health insurers. Nick noted approximately $90,000 from Ballard Spahr, which represents hospitals and health insurers. Kalwaic’s view is that Scanlon’s public persona — standing with scouts, firefighters, giving speeches at rallies — creates goodwill that obscures what’s underneath the fundraising. The donor accountability argument, she says, tends to be an “aha moment” for people who hadn’t connected those dots.
The Crozer Connection
Both Kalwaic and Nick connected Medicare for All directly to the Crozer Health collapse. Kalwaic’s argument: Medicare for All establishes a guaranteed funding stream dedicated to services rather than profit margins, which is exactly the structural fix that private equity exploitation of hospital systems makes necessary. Other developed countries with universal systems keep costs down and produce better outcomes. The Crozer crisis is a local demonstration of exactly what Medicare for All is designed to prevent.
Unions and the Political Landscape
Kalwaic tried to engage unions but found them unresponsive. Her theory: unions link healthcare benefits to contract negotiations and don’t want to disrupt that dynamic. Many also contribute to Scanlon’s campaign and may not want to risk the relationship. She has been in contact with Put People First Pennsylvania and found them very receptive. She also sees the League of Women Voters, DSA Delco, Delco Indivisible, and Quaker organizations as key coalition partners going forward.
What Comes Next
Kalwaic has not yet delivered the 1,700 signatures. She wants a coalition of organizations and voters in place before doing so to maximize the impact. The plan is to form a committee, coalesce the groups that have been supportive, and build a unified advocacy push. Scanlon’s office has not acknowledged the petition campaign or requested a meeting.
Note: People who want to get involved can look at the Facebook group here OR email kaekalwaic@gmail.com
Volunteers to help collect Medicare for All signatures are welcome.
Kae also just migrated her newsletter to Substack, so INSTEAD OF subscribing to mine, please subscribe below!!
