AUSTIN (KXAN) — The restaurant industry is a big deal in Austin, which means its workers are, too. That’s why Good Work Austin exists, and why it launched a pilot program with Central Health to help connect food industry workers with healthcare.

Good Work Austin, or GWA, is a bar and restaurant association that works toward “creating good jobs for all workers, ensuring a quality workplace, and supporting and amplifying the voices of like-minded businesses,” per its website.

One of the ways GWA is fulfilling that mission is through a new pilot program it launched in partnership with Central Health at the beginning of the year. The program helps connect uninsured restaurant workers with affordable healthcare coverage and healthcare navigation support.

According to GWA, the food and beverage industry is the third largest occupational group in Austin and Travis County, the lowest paid, and has the highest rate of uninsured workers in any occupational group, despite contributing $9.6 billion to the Austin metro area’s economy.

If you’re familiar with Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, this pilot program is the same general concept, but for restaurant industry workers, explained Kara Hanaoka, Executive Director of Good Work Austin.

“We’re really excited to adopt a model that a lot of people are familiar with in Austin, which is through the Health Alliance for Musicians,” Hanaoka said. “And so we’ve been able to pilot this year the first of its kind type of healthcare access pilot, where we’re getting food workers — so people that are working at your favorite restaurant, cafe, bar — we’re able to get them no-cost health insurance.”

According to a press release from GWA, Central Health invested in premium assistance for eligible participants while Good Work Austin led outreach, enrollment support, healthcare navigation, and ongoing case management for workers throughout the pilot. Foundation Communities assisted participants with enrollment into Sendero Health Plans coverage.

The pilot, which specifically supports uninsured food and beverage workers in Travis County, earning between approximately $19,500 and $31,300 annually, enrolled 25 local food and beverage workers into healthcare coverage at the start of the year.

Hanaoka presented initial results from the pilot to the Austin Travis County Food Policy Board during its regular meeting Monday evening.

According to a pre-assessment survey, which had responses from 22 people, the majority of participants did not have health insurance prior to the program.

The survey found:

64% did not have health insurance prior to the program

41% reported difficulty accessing healthcare when needed

Only 23% felt very confident using health insurance benefits at intake

55% were only somewhat confident scheduling preventive care appointments

Hanaoka said most of the participants in the pilot program had not had health insurance before, and some of them have described the program as life-changing.

“We are a food city. We love our food. We have Michelin stars. It brings in billions of dollars, almost $10 billion, to our economy. We have 65,000 people working in food service, so there’s a lot of restaurants, there’s thousands of restaurants,” Hanaoka said. “But unfortunately, because of the way the industry was designed, a lot of those workers still aren’t making what we kind of consider a living wage in Austin, which is from the city of Austin, $22 an hour. On average, those workers make $16.50.”

“We know that’s not enough to live in our city, and so that’s 25% of what’s less than what’s considered a living wage,” Hanaoka continued. “When we talked to thousands of food workers, 50% of them said that’s not enough to live here.”

Hanaoka said the pilot program also helps restaurant owners by relieving some of the financial pressure of covering insurance premiums.

“I think the really great thing about Good Work Austin is we’re a local nonprofit, and we’re trying to help those businesses be able to pay higher wages, be able to offer healthcare for their employees,” she said. “So we work really closely with the city of Austin, with the city council, to try to [find out] how can we help support local businesses that are paying living wages?”

A press release about the pilot program stated that Good Work Austin and Central Health view the pilot as a model for how local governments, healthcare institutions, and community-based organizations can work together to improve conditions for low-wage essential workers.

“Because everybody loves tacos and barbecue. We want to keep that here,” Hanaoka said.

Good Work Austin is working to expand the program and scale up over the next few years, Hanaoka said. There are about 65,000 food industry workers in Austin, and GWA estimates that about half of them don’t have health insurance, according to Hanaoka.

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