The Year in Preview

Health Care: The new year will bring higher health insurance premiums for just about everyone--even people in restrictive HMOs such as Kaiser, which is raising rates 11% for the coming year. The problem? Consumers and politicians demand better care, but providers don’t have the money to pay for it, for reasons ranging from bad management to intense competition. Expect mergers in the health-care industry in 1999, as HMOs struggle for profitability and big companies continue to gobble up small ones.