In addition to overlooking Medicare premiums, the CPI-W also doesn't accurately measure the portion of income that retirees and disabled Social Security recipients spend on Medicare. Spending for medical care in the CPI for younger adults represents about 6.5 percent of household budgets, but surveys by TSCL suggest that retirees routinely send more than twice that amount. .There are new federal rules that require hospitals to post their pricing information online in order to give patients the information they need to make decisions about their health care. But it turns out that some large hospital systems have been using codes that prevent that information from appearing in online search results. .Terry: The anchor effect is the psychological tendency to rely too much on the first piece of information we get in the process of making a decision. For example, when you go to buy a house, the list price becomes the starting point (the "anchor") for negotiations, even if it is a very poor reflection of the home's true value. When you get a solicitation for a charitable donation in the mail, it often lists suggested contributions, starting with the highest figure they hope you will select. That high figure becomes the anchor for your thinking about what to give. .So far, 800,000 federal workers have been furloughed, and Members of the House have begun taking a piecemeal approach that would send some of them back to work by providing funding for certain agencies. However, the Senate has rejected each bill. Leaders in that chamber believe a piecemeal approach will set a bad precedent and give the opposing political party "veto power over what is funded and what isn't," according to Sen. Chuck Schumer (NY). .Home care, though, is much cheaper, overall. The yearly average cost, per person, of a nursing home to Medicaid is ,000 compared with ,000 for home care workers, according to one expert. .What cost increases should you keep an eye on in 2015? Prescription drugs! To learn more see "Unprecedented Generic Drug Price Spikes Wreaking Havoc." .Use call block technology. If you have a smart phone, you can block calls from unknown numbers. Some land line phones also have similar technology. .TSCL feels strongly that the Guaranteed 3 Percent COLA Act would go a long way in ensuring the retirement security seniors have earned and deserve. We lend our enthusiastic support to H.R. 3588, and we look forward to working with Congressman Engle through the remainder of the 114th Congress to help build support for his important new bill. .Congressman Elijah Cummings (MD-7), Ranking Member of the Committee, agreed, saying: "Drug company executives are lining their pockets at the expense of some of the most vulnerable families in our nation … [People in my district] struggle every single month to pay the increasing cost of housing, education, and health care. They live from paycheck to paycheck and sometimes from no check to no check." He went on to promote his bill, the Prescription Drug Affordability Act, which would take several steps to ensure more affordable prescription drugs, including greater price transparency.