Where it stands: As we all wait for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to hand down its ruling, and then for the likely appeal to the Supreme Court...

• Colorado is looking to its state-level public option, still under formation, as an ACA fallback.
• Nevada has formed a commission to look for ideas.
• Louisiana is working on a plan to establish a high-risk pool for sick people.

The catch: Even setting aside the fact that this is only a small handful of states, even the most motivated blue state probably couldn't make up for the total loss of the ACA.

• They could not deliver themselves a federally funded Medicaid expansion, for starters, and would have to raise an awful lot of revenue to replace the premium subsidies on the ACA's exchanges.
• States would face their own drawn-out political battles if they wanted to re-impose the ACA's protections for pre-existing conditions and the accompanying rules that give the coverage mandate teeth.

And that's just the ACA's coverage expansion: States definitely couldn't fill the ACA's shoes on Medicare policy, biosimilars approval or the host of other programs that would fall by the wayside if the law is ultimately struck down.

Go Deeper: 10 states to experiment with wellness programs in their ACA markets

• We asked our experts — world editor Dave Lawler, immigration reporter Stef Kight, energy reporters Ben Geman and Amy Harder, tech reporter Ina Fried, and markets editor Dion Rabouin — what questions tonight's moderators should ask to test their depth and get beyond the sound bites we've already heard.

Not every question would work for every candidate, but we think these questions would open up some new ground, provide real insights that would help voters make up their minds, and maybe even knock a few candidates off their talking points.

On foreign policy:

• Do you still consider Turkey a U.S. ally? While we're at it, how about Saudi Arabia?
• Would you keep President Trump's tariffs on China in place until Beijing made the sorts of fundamental changes to its economic model Trump has called for? Do you consider China a U.S. adversary?
• Do we need to accept the reality of a nuclear North Korea and adjust U.S. policy accordingly?

On health care:

• You've all criticized drug companies and insurance companies, but the single biggest chunk of U.S. health care spending goes to hospitals — about $1 trillion a year. Is that too much? How will you cut it?

On immigration:

• Both sides agree we witnessed a crisis at the southern border this year, and we know you wouldn’t handle it the same way President Trump did — but what *would* you do, if faced with a similar crisis while you’re president?
• What do you think should be done with migrants who cross the border without papers and who have yet to go through an asylum or other legal immigration process?

On energy and climate:

• How much of your climate plan could you implement without help from Congress?

On tech:

• Should Facebook accept political advertising?
• What’s the appropriate way for the government to use facial recognition technology?

On the economy:

• Would you re-appoint Jerome Powell as chair of the Fed?
• The U.S. pension system is underfunded by trillions of dollars. The deficit between what retirees are owed and the money available has already started draining state budgets. What would you do as president to solve this problem?