Axios

Stock prices for the country's largest health insurance companies soared well above the rest of the stock market in 2017.

Between the lines: Even though the failed attempts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act created uncertainty and distractions, the health insurance industry still reaped record profits as it benefited from people using less expensive health care settings.

2018 is going to be a long year, and probably a hard one to keep up with in the ever-evolving world of health care.

Let's take a step back from the minute-by-minute onslaught and take stock more broadly of the big, overarching trends that will animate this year in health policy.