Here is the data of the annual inflation. It is not a US right wing think tank, but coming straight from the Argentinian government (
INDEC):
View attachment 8602
As you can see, public transport and healthcare are also included. I agree that for some people it does not affect them, but statistically it is correct to include them (as for many people these are a big part of the monthly budget).
Even if you take the José Villero living in a slum in the Conurbano, you can see in the table above that - even if sends his many kids to public school and hospital - that the inflation is hitting him at least as much as the rest of population: Alimentos + 95%, Ropa + 120%.
I am not from the US, but I am rather that your government includes food and energy prices. You can always debate about the weight of the goods/service basket in an inflation index, but as long as it is consistent it doesn't really matter that much. The variation are rather small.
If someone does "jigger the content" of their baskets, I wouldn't look that much at first world nations. Just look a couple of years back in Argentina under the CFK rule where they grossly (again INDEC) misstated the inflation numbers. "INDEC says consumer prices rose 15 percent in the 12 months through June while private economists estimate inflation at 27.9 percent, one of the highest rates in the world. Critics, including some of the agency’s own statisticians, say INDEC is masking Argentina’s top economic problem for political reasons." (
Reuters) Nowadays (since Macri, but also with Alberto), the numbers of the INDEC are more or less undisputed (by government allied politicians, as well as opposition; at least I haven't heard otherwise).