Just because the House passed a health care reform package on Saturday night doesn't mean the "debate" about the bill's provisions is complete. First, the Senate has to pass its own version. Then both chambers will have to approve whatever legislation emerges from the conference committee. In other words, there's a lot of work yet to be done.

As such, Republican opponents are still on the attack.

On WTTW's Chicago Tonight this evening, Carol Marin will host a panel discussion on health care featuring GOP Rep. Peter Roskam and Democrat Jan Schakowsky. Roskam can be expected to take a number of predictable swipes at the House bill.  He may also treat viewers to his new argument that the individual mandate represents the "criminalization" of everyday citizens who don't want to buy publicly-funded insurance. Watch him whip out a pair of handcuffs during his floor statement on Saturday (via Hot Air):

So is Roskam correct in asserting that those who don't comply with the individual mandate can be subject to five years in prison and $250,ooo in fines?  In fact, that's a gross oversimplification.

Under the House bill, every American would be required to carry health insurance. The justification for this mandate is simple enough. By forcing everyone in the country to purchase insurance, including the young and healthy, insurance pools will be larger, risk will be spread more evenly, and costs will be lowered for everyone. If opts not be covered, they will still be required to help offset the costs via an individual mandate tax (roughly 2.5 percent of income).  In concept, this is no different than the federal taxes we all currently pay for safety net services provided by the government to other citizens.  And just as with those levies, if someone chooses not to pay their taxes,  he or she could be subject to the criminal penalties described by Roskam.

In other words, the criminalization of which Roskam speaks is related to changes in the tax code. And just as instances of people not paying their taxes to protest defense spending are pretty rare (to give one example), those choosing to neither receive coverage or pay the new tax will be few and far between.

Indeed, most of the nation's 45 million uninsured lack coverage because they are excluded by insurance companies or priced out of the individual market. The current bill addresses those two scenarios by offering a bevy of consumer protections and the subsidies that aim to make insurance more affordable for the vast majority of the uninsured.

And let's not forget that as recently as this fall, leading players in the Republican Party endorsed the individual mandate. "That's individual responsibility," Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) told Nightly Business Report. "And even Republicans believe in individual responsibility."

There is a reason that the individual mandate is broadly popular and considered by many reformers to be non-controversial. It's good policy. Late in the game, Roskam is just throwing up Hail Mary's. Watch for another one tonight.