President Obama signed into law the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016, which updates the benefits-calculating formula used by federal housing programs such as the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) and ensures that they reflect the current state of the epidemic.

The bill, originally known as H.R. 3700, was given Public Law number 114-201, according to a press release by the National AIDS Housing Coalition.

As AIDS United wrote in its policy blog on POZ.com, the law “phases in a formula change over five years, factoring in local housing costs and poverty rates, and capping grantee losses at 5% and gains at 10% of the prior year allocation.… Access to affordable housing is one of the greatest unmet needs of people living with HIV.”

UPDATE: To learn more about HOPWA, visit Benefits.gov, which includes information on how to apply and how to find local agencies that can help you through the process. HOPWA is a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can learn more about it here.