WASHINGTON—The maximum contributions that can be made to health savings accounts in 2007 will increase, while the minimum deductible imposed on health insurance plans linked to HSAs and the maximum out-of-pocket expenses that employees can be required to pay also will rise, the Internal Revenue Service announced Thursday.

In addition to plenty of turkey, a record amount of spam will be served up this holiday season.

Mass e-mailers traditionally bump up their activity as the year winds down. But this year, the amount of junk messages could be unprecedented, companies that make spam-busting tools say. And senders of unsolicited ads are already celebrating the close of the harvest season and the approach of Christmas.

"Just as legitimate vendors began stocking their shelves with holiday decor and gifts before Halloween, spammers started sending spam messages tailored to the holiday gift-giving season earlier this year," said Stephen Pao, vice president of product management at Barracuda Networks, a Mountain View, Calif., maker of security appliances.

Health care costs will rise by double-digits in 2007 absent any plan changes, a study by PriceWaterhouseCoopers L.L.P. projects.

Preferred provider organization costs will increase the most—11.9%—while HMO costs will climb slightly less—11.8%. Consumer-driven health plans are expected to experience the least growth, though costs will still surge 10.7%, PwC researchers found.

NEW YORK (Reuters)—The 2006 hurricane season is ending on Nov. 30 with U.S. homeowners and insurers unscathed, but forecasters warn that the years ahead will not be so calm.

While the first predictions for 2007 are due in early December, Risk Management Solutions Inc., a firm that models damages from hurricanes, sees annual storm losses for the next five years rising 40% in the U.S. Gulf and up to 30% in the Atlantic.