On Friday, March 7, Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) visited Baltimore during a press conference at 1199SEIU to encourage residents to get signed up for health insurance, and to tout the successes of the Affordable Care Act.With less than three weeks left to enroll in private health insurance through the Maryland Health Connection, Senator Cardin urged Marylanders to sign up before the deadline and “[take] advantage of preventative health care services.”“We want people to sign up by March 31,” said Senator Cardin, “to know that you have an insurance card in your pocket and you don’t have to pay half of your paycheck to go to a neighborhood urgent care center.”Senator Cardin was joined by everyday Marylanders who shared their experiences gaining better, more affordable health coverage under the new law. Baltimore resident and 1199 Member Political Organizer Anthony Miales found himself without affordable health coverage after being laid off last year. Miales shared his experience working with a Navigator to sign up for Medicaid.“The whole process only took 8 minutes,” said Miales. “Today, I’m working at a union to help other people in the community get signed up. It’s so important to have insurance.”Maryland Health Connection Navigators were onsite to enroll members of the community, and 27 members of the community successfully signed up for health insurance.- See more at: http://www.1199seiu.org/senator_cardin_visits_baltimore_to_spread_the_word_about_affordable_care_act#sthash.TQUYs8ZR.dpuf