ANCHOR Act of 2025

The ANCHOR Act of 2025 (HR6408), introduced by Rep. Pfluger (R-TX) on December 3, 2025, amends the Social Security Act to establish a state option for providing Medicaid to uninsured individuals with serious mental illness, serious emotional disturbance, opioid use disorder, or stimulant use disorder. The bill defines qualifying conditions broadly to include SMI, serious emotional disturbance, OUD, and stimulant use disorder (cocaine, methamphetamine), and allows determination by healthcare providers, CCBHCs, emergency departments, or state agencies including judicial and law enforcement entities. This is an authorization bill — it sets policy but does not appropriate new federal funds. The financial mechanism works through existing Medicaid federal matching (FMAP), meaning states that opt in will receive their standard federal match for covering this new eligibility group. There is no new mandatory spending; actual enrollment depends on individual state adoption. The companion bill S3300 has been referred to Senate Finance, indicating bipartisan interest. Structural winners are Medicaid managed care organizations. Centene ($CNC at $49.57) is the most leveraged pure play with ~16 million Medicaid members and deep penetration in states with high uninsurance rates. Molina ($MOH at $185.46) is also highly exposed. UnitedHealth ($UNH at $366.77) and Humana ($HUM at $229.72) benefit secondarily as diversified insurers with smaller Medicaid exposure. Diagnostic companies ($LH, $DGX) and staffing ($AMN) have more indirect exposure — revenue impacts are lower confidence. Real market data shows massive momentum in managed care stocks over the past 30 days: $CNC +54.91%, $MOH +38.37%, $UNH +41.6%, $HUM +35.86%. While part of this move reflects broader sector trends (Medicare Advantage rate finalization, Q1 earnings), the ANCHOR Act's tailwind and the April 18, 2026 executive order on accelerating mental health treatments are additive catalysts creating a favorable regulatory environment. The legislative timeline is early: referred to House Energy & Commerce, no committee markup scheduled. A companion bill exists in the Senate. Given divided government (119th Congress), passage is uncertain. The executive order on psychedelic therapies for mental health (April 18, 2026) complements the bill by signaling executive branch prioritization of behavioral health access, potentially increasing state interest in adopting the Medicaid option.