Medical Care Alert Medical Alert System Review 2021

Medical Care Alert ties as No. 3 in our Best Medical Alert Systems of 2021. Medical Care Alert is a Michigan-based provider of medical alert services offered by American Response Technologies, which started in 2008 by offering do-it-yourself home security systems before evolving into personal emergency response systems and home automation. Medical Care Alert is a family-owned business, and its U.S.-based monitoring centers are located in New York and California. Its alert systems include in-home systems that use either a landline or the AT&T cellular network, along with GPS-enabled mobile systems.

Keep reading for our unbiased Medical Care Alert review.

Medical Care Alert is a family-owned business that offers its service in all 50 states and provides five medical alert system packages. These include in-home landline and cellular plans, a home-and-away plan with a mobile GPS-enabled device and remote care app, a home-and-away plan with two-way communication in the voice pendant and remote care app, and a home and yard plan with a base station and two-way voice pendant.

For a monthly cost of $10, you can get fall detection that will alert the monitoring center of a fall without you pressing the help button. This is helpful for some adults, considering falls are the leading cause of injury and injury-related death in adults age 65 and older, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The two mobile home-and-away plans include GPS-enabled devices. GPS tracking allows the system to locate you in case of an emergency. The backup battery life on devices is up to 72 hours, which is significantly longer than the 32- to 36-hour battery backup life of other medical alert systems in our rating. There are no fees for equipment or activation, whereas some companies charge fees for mobile device activation. Shipping fees start around $12, and free shipping is available if you select semiannual or annual payment plans instead of the quarterly payment option.

While Medical Care Alert does not offer wellness checks as an optional feature, some plans let other family members and caregivers monitor your location and see your prescriptions and other health information. Usually, these extras cost $10 per feature per month, but these are free with Medical Care Alert’s RemoteCare 24/7 app. This app is included with the Home and Away Duo and Home and Away Ultra packages.

A lockbox is free with all Medical Care Alert plans. The benefit of a lockbox is if you call for help but can’t get to the door, the responder has a code to get your key and enter. In the case of someone who lives alone and has fallen and can’t get up, a lockbox is critical.

Medical Care Alert has the following features. Not every feature is included or available with every plan. See our Plans and Pricing section below for more information.

Medical Care Alert offers the choice between quarterly, semiannual, and annual billing. It has five different plans, starting with a landline-based Home Medical Alert System for $29.95 a month (with quarterly billing). This package includes a base unit and two help buttons (choose between wrist and pendant styles). You can opt for fall detection for $10 per month. The base unit has a 72-hour backup battery life, in case the power goes out, but this system has no GPS capability. As with other Medical Care Alert systems, the equipment and activation are free. A lockbox is also free, which is recommended because it assures that whoever responds to your help call can enter your home easily. This landline system is comparable to others we rated but costs slightly more than monthly fees with One Call Alert and Bay Alarm Medical, two other No. 3 Best Medical Alert Systems of 2021.

The Home Cellular Medical Alert System costs $34.95 per month (billed quarterly) and comes with a cellular base unit that uses the AT&T network. The system also comes with two wrist or pendant help buttons, and you can get optional fall detection for $10 per month. The base unit is not GPS-enabled. The lockbox is free, but there are no other extras with this plan, such as spouse monitoring or medication reminders. This in-home cellular plan costs $5 more per month than One Call Alert and Bay Alarm Medical.

Medical Care Alert’s Home and Away Duo GPS Medical Alert System starts at $36.62 per month with the annual plan, which is the only payment plan available. It includes a mobile GPS-enabled unit, a wearable help button (wrist or pendant), and access to the RemoteCare 24/7 app so family and caregivers can track your location and send voice messages to you, such as reminders to take medication. This system includes optional fall detection for $10 per month, free spouse monitoring, and a free lockbox. It’s one of the most expensive annual plans from this company, though you also get more features and flexibility with this plan than others from Medical Care Alert.

The Home and Away Ultra Medical Alert System costs $39.95 a month with quarterly billing. This package includes a pendant with GPS tracking and two-way capabilities for voice conversations. The free RemoteCare 24/7 app allows for location tracking and family monitoring. A lockbox is free and you can get fall detection for an extra $10 per month. This plan is designed for active adults as a “go anywhere” system without a base unit.

If you’re someone who likes to spend time gardening or enjoying the outdoors at home, the Home and Yard system may be a good choice. It starts at $34.95 a month with quarterly billing, and it includes a base station and a two-way voice pendant you can wear inside or outside. The pendant resembles a walkie-talkie, is safe to wear in the shower, and can be set up to answer your home phone. It has a 600-foot range from the base unit but isn’t GPS-enabled. For the price, you may get more value from the Home and Away Ultra plan with its GPS tracking and access to the RemoteCare 24/7 app, which offers extra features like location tracking and family monitoring.

Medical Care Alert does not charge activation or equipment fees. Most of its systems cost $11.95 for shipping if you opt for quarterly billing and come with free shipping if you choose semiannual or annual billing. The exception is the Home & Away Duo GPS system. It includes free shipping, though this package is only offered with an annual billing plan. Setup is plug-and-play, and the company provides setup videos you can view on its website. Plugging the system in and testing it for the first time takes only a few minutes.

All of Medical Care Alert’s systems give you the option to add fall detection for $10 per month. This is an important feature because the wearable device will automatically contact the monitoring center if it detects a fall. You don’t have to push the button. Falls are the leading cause of injuries and injury-related deaths among U.S. adults ages 65 and older, according to the CDC.

The two Home and Away systems (Ultra and Duo) offer some extra benefits with the free RemoteCare 24/7 app. Its features include family monitoring, medication reminders, and location tracking. You don’t have to pay more for these features with Medical Care Alert, while other companies can charge up to $10 per month for each add-on service.

None of Medical Care Alert’s plans offer wellness checks, and every package comes with a free lockbox.

Typically, Medicare Parts A and B do not cover medical alert systems, including those provided by Medical Care Alert. However, Medicare Advantage plans tend to offer extra benefits, which may include reimbursement for medical alert devices. Learn more about Medicare and private insurance coverage for these devices in our How to Choose a Medical Alert System guide.

Medical Care Alert and Bay Alarm Medical tie (along with One Call Alert and Medical Guardian) for our No. 3 Best Medical Alert Systems of 2021. Both offer two-way communication at the base unit, fall detection for $10 per month, and a similar range of 1,000 feet for most devices. Under the right conditions, Medical Care Alert’s backup battery life for the base unit is longer (up to 72 hours versus 32 hours). There’s an upfront device fee of up to $149 for some Bay Alarm Medical devices and no equipment fees for Medical Care Alert. As for features, both offer GPS-enabled devices and spouse monitoring, but you can also create medication reminders with some Medical Care Alert systems. These medical alert companies are comparable in price and capabilities. If you’re looking for extra features, Medical Care Alert’s Home & Away Duo GPS is a robust, though pricey, choice.

Medical Care Alert and Medical Guardian offer optional fall detection for $10 per month and the same extra features: location tracking, spouse monitoring, and medication reminders included with some plans. Both provide free equipment and activation for most devices. A key difference is Medical Guardian’s smartwatch offering, which does have an equipment fee, and is the only Medical Guardian plan that offers extras such as medication reminders. If you want a smartwatch, Medical Guardian is the better choice. But if a basic wrist or pendant help button suit you, Medical Care Alert may be the better choice as it does not charge for the equipment and its two-way voice pendant with GPS capabilities offers the same features.

Medical Care Alert offers five medical alert plans for home and/or on-the-go. At-home systems include a base unit that connects to a landline or is cellular, using the AT&T network. The base units have a backup battery life of up to 72 hours. A waterproof help button can be worn in the shower, and the GPS-enabled devices allow you to use your voice to speak into the pendant because of two-way communication. (You can even answer a phone call from your pendant with one of the company’s plans.)

When you press the help button, the call goes out to Medical Care Alert’s U.S.-based monitoring center, which is open 24/7. A live operator answers, assesses the situation, and alerts emergency medical services (EMS) or your emergency contacts. Medical Care Alert says all of its operators are emergency medical technician/emergency medical dispatch (EMT/EMD) certified. If you call for help but cannot speak, Medical Care Alert will dispatch help.

It’s a good idea to get a lockbox with your medical alert system so if you’re home alone and can’t get the door when help arrives, responders can access your key. A lockbox isn’t necessary if you have a door key code and let the company know what that is ahead of any emergency so they can give the info to emergency responders.

Medical Care Alert has 24/7 U.S.-based monitoring and its call center operators are EMT/EMD certified. There is multilingual support and the company says Spanish-speaking call center representatives are always available.

You can buy a Medical Care Alert system online through the company’s website or you can call customer service and someone will assist you with the purchase. There is a shipping fee of up to $11.95 on select plans. The system arrives with some paperwork for you to complete and return. You’ll fill out a personal profile with contact information for family members and caregivers, the order in which you want them contacted, a code for your lockbox, your medical details, and any other instructions you want to include. This information is kept secure and held to HIPPA standards.

Medical Care Alert offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the system during that time period, you can return it for a refund. The company asks you to at least hook up your system and test it before returning it. If you return the system without testing it, Medical Care Alert will deduct $50 from your refund to cover the costs of programming the system and setting up your account.

Medical Care Alert offers a price-lock guarantee stating that your rates won’t increase and a 100% lifetime warranty. Its warranty policy is a stand-out feature that most of the Best Medical Alert Systems of 2021 we rated do not offer.

We explain what matters most to consumers, experts, and professional reviewers when it comes to medical alert systems. Then we provide an unbiased evaluation of medical alert systems available at the time of review. Our goal is to empower consumers with the information and tools they need to make informed decisions. More information about our 360 Reviews methodology for evaluating medical alert system companies is here.