Some parts of health law expected to take hold regardless of court decision

Politico: States Could Be In A Bind On Mandate
If the Supreme Court strikes down the health reform law's individual mandate, the states at the forefront of implementing the law could find themselves like Wile E. Coyote in the Road Runner cartoons: racing ahead only to discover there's no ground underneath their feet. These states were all counting on the individual mandate to make health insurance exchanges viable - because without a requirement for most people to buy coverage, there's a chance that healthy people could avoid paying into the system, making premiums skyrocket (Feder and Millman, 4/29).

In related news, the White House is reportedly eyeing a loophole in the law -

Politico Pro: W.H. Watches For Small-Business Dodge 
The Obama administration may be laying the groundwork to close a loophole in the health reform law that some worry could undermine the small-group market. The administration requested comment Friday on whether regulations are needed to prevent small employers from becoming self-insured in order to get around some Affordable Care Act rules. Historically, only large employers have decided to self-insure. That's largely because small employers could find themselves bankrupt if just one of their employees fell seriously ill. But now, there's a growing market for stop-loss insurance with low "attachment points" - meaning it starts paying the costs after employers have paid only a small amount out of their own pockets. And these policies could make it possible for large numbers of small employers to exit the small-group market and the rules that will apply to it under the ACA (Feder, 4/27).