at reduced costs. Gilead has an "advancing access" co-pay coupon program that can be accessed by individuals and providers alike to help cover some of the monthly costs of these medications. It is recommended to discuss other available options with a community pharmacist or physician. In December 2019, the U.S. announced the Ready, Set, PrEP program to provide free PrEP to the uninsured through major drugstore chains. The Ready, Set, PrEP program is led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and allows qualifying individuals to fill their prescription for PrEP medication free of cost at their choice of participating pharmacies or through the mail. NPIN PrEP Provider Data and Locator Widget was launched on the CDC website to provide a comprehensive, national directory of public and private providers in the U.S. that offer pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection. The database includes over 1,800 PrEP providers from all 50 U.S. states as well as U.S. territories. Beginning in January 2020, after California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 159 (SB159) in late 2019, licensed pharmacists in California are authorized to initiate and dispense a 30 to 60 day supply of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or the full course of post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) without a doctor's prescription, given certain clinical criteria of the individual are met. The bill acts as an extension of Medi-Cal benefits (the Medicaid program in the state of California). The law is recognized by pharmacist organizations, health providers, legislators, and the general public to be the removal of a barrier to direct and time-dependent access to these medications, especially for those in communities most affected by HIV/AIDs. Politics and culture Since the FDA approval of PrEP for the prevention of HIV, moves toward greater adoption of PrEP have been met some issues, especially around the overall public health effect of widespread adoption, the cost of PrEP and associated disparities in availability and access. Many public health organizations and governments have embraced PrEP as a part of their overall strategy for reducing HIV. For example, in 2014 New York state governor Andrew Cuomo initiated a three-part plan to reduce HIV across New York that specifically emphasized access to PrEP. Similarly, the city of San Francisco launched a "Getting to Zero" campaign. The campaign aims to dramatically reduce the number of new HIV infections in the city and relies on expanding access to PrEP as