For the 13 million Australians who have private health insurance, premium hikes are an annual inevitability.
On the first of April, premiums will rise yet again by an average of 4.84 per cent.
Family health cover is expected to spike by up to $200 a year as a result, and by $100 for singles.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull admits the extra cost will hurt.
"I acknowledge and, of course, families that are doing it tough are under pressure from rising energy prices, among other things, and will feel it. But these are, this is a much lower rise than we've seen for many, many years."
Opposition Health spokeswoman, Catherine King, fears the rise will likely force many Australians to opt out of their cover altogether.
"Of course thay is going to see families make assessments about whether they can afford the products they have. Many people are actually putting off accessing and using their private health insurance or accessing the health care that they need because they are worried about gap payments, they're worried about value for money for their private health insurance products."
While newly appointed Health Minister Greg Hunt says the lowest increase in premiums in a decade is an improvement, he concedes there's a lot more work to be done.
He has promised to liaise with private health insurers over the next few years to find ways to deliver more value without compromising on the quality of cover.
"I've spoken to the CEOs of all five major private health insurers and all have agreed to work with us on more work to take the pressure off private health insurance premiums because every dollar matters to families."
The Turnbull government says the rising cost of health services overall is to blame as well as high labour costs and the use of cutting edge technology.
Private Healthcare Australia's chief executive, Rachel David, believes private health insurance still provides good value for money.
"People need to think that if they had a hip or a knee condition that required a joint replacement they'd be up for $20,000 or more as a direct cost if they didn't have private health insurance, or a wait of up to a year in pain waiting for a public hospital bed to become available. For younger people a mental health admission that they didn't expect could cost 20 thousand dollars a year or over and for some of those conditions like addictions or eating disorders there might not be a public hospital bed available."
But for many Australians, that's a risk they're willing to take.
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