I’ll argue that this disparity actually makes sense: Social Security raises factor in all prices, including oil which is now much cheaper, so while some prices have gone up, the price of heating oil and gasoline went down, and may have indirectly impacted other prices, too. On the other hand, medical costs go up no matter what.
Also, the annual Social Security raises are determined by Social Security itself, not Congress – if it were Congress’ job, you can imagine that there’d be no SS raises, ever. 🙂
“Obama’s New Appointee to Head the FDA Is a Big Pharma Mega-Lobbyist” http://theantimedia.org/obamas-new-appointee-to-head-the-fda-is-a-big-pharma-mega-lobbyist/ “President Obama’s recent nominee to chair the Food and Drug Administration has drawn harsh criticism for his ties to the pharmaceutical industry. The disapproval grew more justified this week as it was revealed that until this year, nominee Dr. Robert Califf was a board member and consultant for a company whose sole purpose is to help pharmaceutical companies evade and manipulate FDA regulations. He currently serves as the FDA’s deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco and awaits Senate confirmation to become Deputy Commissioner of the agency.”
Eideard 
Love it! Biting sarcasm
I’ll argue that this disparity actually makes sense: Social Security raises factor in all prices, including oil which is now much cheaper, so while some prices have gone up, the price of heating oil and gasoline went down, and may have indirectly impacted other prices, too. On the other hand, medical costs go up no matter what.
Also, the annual Social Security raises are determined by Social Security itself, not Congress – if it were Congress’ job, you can imagine that there’d be no SS raises, ever. 🙂
Americans pay the highest prices for prescription drugs of anywhere in the world – and the cost is going up, 12% on average in the last year and in some cases nearly 1,000%. (Sanders, Cummings Introduce Comprehensive Legislation to Lower Soaring Drug Prices) http://democrats.oversight.house.gov/news/press-releases/sanders-cummings-introduce-comprehensive-legislation-to-lower-soaring-drug See also “F.D.A. Nominee Califf’s Ties to Drug Makers Worry Some” http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/health/fda-nominee-califfs-ties-to-drug-industry-raise-questions.html and The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade agreement and Access to Medicines (what’s new) @ http://www.citizen.org/more-about-trans-pacific-partnership-agreement
“Obama’s New Appointee to Head the FDA Is a Big Pharma Mega-Lobbyist” http://theantimedia.org/obamas-new-appointee-to-head-the-fda-is-a-big-pharma-mega-lobbyist/ “President Obama’s recent nominee to chair the Food and Drug Administration has drawn harsh criticism for his ties to the pharmaceutical industry. The disapproval grew more justified this week as it was revealed that until this year, nominee Dr. Robert Califf was a board member and consultant for a company whose sole purpose is to help pharmaceutical companies evade and manipulate FDA regulations. He currently serves as the FDA’s deputy commissioner for medical products and tobacco and awaits Senate confirmation to become Deputy Commissioner of the agency.”