FAQ

Our medical alert service is right for seniors, or people of any age who are:

• Living alone, or left alone for long periods and need assistance
• Have a medical condition that could require immediate medical attention (such as epilepsy, seizures, strokes, heart conditions)
• Recovering from a fall, hip replacement or other major surgery
• May have trouble speaking clearly with 911 in the event of an emergency
• Want to maintain their independence, be safe, and have peace of mind

Yes! We cover the entire USA - all 50 states. Find your state here.

For customers choosing a cellular based system, we use AT&T and Verizon Wireless as our cellular carrier (all cellular charges are included in your plan). To check the AT&T Wireless cellular coverage in your area, click on this link to the AT&T Wireless coverage map and enter your zip code. Select the options for "data" and "4G" for best results.

Note: AT&T Coverage Map displays approximate outdoor coverage and actual coverage may vary. Coverage is not guaranteed and is subject to change without notice.

Depending on which medical alert system is right for you, the button will be somewhere between the size of a quarter to a small hotel-sized bar of soap. See our comparison chart below.

HOME Medical Alert System Button Options

HOME & AWAY GPS Medical Alert System Button Options

Not necessarily...it depends on which system you choose.

Our "HOME" Medical Alert System usees regular "land-line" phone service to dial our emergency monitoring center. You can use either a standard phone line (sometimes called POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service) or the newer digital VoIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) or DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) phone services that are available from your cable company or internet provider.

No landline? No Problem! Our "HOME" Medical Alert System also has a cellular option, using the AT&T or Verizon Cellular Network. This is completely independent from your personal cell phone - no personal cell phone or Wi-Fi needed. The cost for a cellular-based system is just $5 a month more. These systems are particularly useful in areas that lose AC power frequently, as the HOME system has a built in 24 hour backup battery. This way you can still get help in the event of a power outage.

If you don't have a landline and want to be mobile, check out our "HOME & AWAY" GPS Medical Alert Systems. Use the system at home or away, with NO phone line required.

NOTE: Due to low signal quality, phone service from Magic Jack, Vonage, Dish Satellite phones and Cellular phones are NOT supported. In fact, these phone providers DO NOT recommend using their services with any medical alert systems. If you have a VoIP phone line, please call us to make sure your cable / phone provider is supported.

The medical alert button cost is included in the price of your medical alert system subscription - prices range from $19.95 to $45.79 a month for service with no long term commitments. For around $1 a day, you or your loved one will be protected and able to continue living independently.

There are no long term commitments and you can cancel at any time. There are no set-up, cancellation, activation, deposits or up-charges. Once you choose your plan, that is all you pay and this price is guaranteed to never go up.

When you receive your system you'll get a copy of our Medical Alert Monitoring Agreement which states you can cancel at any time and will receive a pro-rated refund of any pre-paid amounts when the medical alert system is returned to us.

You'll be immediately connected with our Medical Alert Emergency Monitoring Center and will speak with a live, EMT/EMD-Certified operator who knows WHO and WHERE you are. The operator will have your Personal Profile and ask if you need help. Depending on your response and the situation, we will contact folks on your Contact List (i.e., a neighbor or family member), or contact the appropriate emergency responders in your area in the event of a real emergency. If we are unable to hear you, we will assume you need urgent help and dispatch an ambulance.

We also send instant SMS Text Messages to your contacts with cell phones to update them on the situation. Your family and caregivers can even reply to the text message, letting our monitoring center know of any updates to the situation.

We have redundant monitoring centers in New York State, California, and Nevada and we never outsource our calls overseas.

And unlike other Medical Alert companies who let their dispatchers work from home, our agents actually work in the physical monitoring centers. This means they are focused, supervised, and surrounded by fully redundant technology providing you with the very best medical alert monitoring avaialable.

It just takes a few minutes to set up your medical alert system. You can see for yourself with our set-up videos how easy it is! Our medical alert systems simply plug into an electrical outlet and a telephone jack. Once you connect the system, you press the button to verify the connection with our Monitoring center and you are all done.

Other companies may charge you a $99.00 installation fee to come plug in their system, but it is often unnecessary.

Depending on which system you choose, your loved one is protected throughout the entire home and up to three football fields outside the door.

• "HOME" Medical Alert System - up to 1,000 Feet from the base unit
• "HOME & AWAY" Medical Alert System with GPS - nationwide coverage with AT&T or Verizon Cellular Wireless

Medical Care Alert gives you the choice of wearing your waterproof medical alert call button as a necklace, wristband or on your hip with a belt clip. Please tell your representative which one you prefer. See our comparison chart below.

 

HOME Medical Alert System Button Options

HOME & AWAY GPS Medical Alert System Button Options

A medical alert system has 3 components: 1) an emergency help button, 2) 2-way voice speakerphone, 3) 24/7 monitoring at an emergency response center.

When you press the emergency help button a signal is sent to the emergency response center. The operator will ask if you need help over the 2-way speakerphone. They will dispatch EMS to your location and notify people on your emergency contact list.
Medical Care Alert's emergency response center has EMT/EMD certified operators to respond to your call, and are trained to work with seniors. We have three USA-based centers for 100% redundancy. We have received numerous awards for our medical alert monitoring including "Monitoring Center Of The Year" award by the CSAA.

You can press the button as often as you like - and there is NO additional charge for pressing the medical alert button. Even if you don't have an emergency, we encourage our clients to press the button at least once a week as a test.

The most important thing is that when your loved one pushes the button, a signal is sent to our EMT/EMD-Certified operators. Even if your loved one cannot hear us, or if we cannot hear them, we know that there may be an emergency and will take appropriate action. If desired, we will also stay on the line and will not hang up until help has arrived. We will follow the protocol you set up. For example, you may have us notify a neighbor or relative first, and then call Emergency Services. We follow your instructions.

Medical Care Alert is responsible for all service and repair as well as battery replacements. Your medical alert system base unit and wearable transmitter buttons have a 100% lifetime replacement warranty - at no additional charge to you. You are not renting or buying the equipment - we provide it to you at no cost, you are paying for the monitoring service. We want your medical alert system hardware to work at all times.

The system has a 24-72 hour back-up battery in the event of a power outage (depending on system type). It resets itself once power is restored. Our monitoring center is notified in the event of power loss, or low batteries. The cellular-based HOME Medical Alert System will work for up to 24 hours on battery backup power allowing you to get help in a power outage.

Our "HOME & AWAY" medical alert system is designed to protect people anywhere in all 50 states where there is coverage with the AT&T Cellular Wireless network.

The button is easy to press, and is designed for people with various medical challenges. We know from years of research, that in most emergency situations, people have enough time to push the button before losing consciousness. The ease of pushing one button to summon help is one of the key advantages of our system, as compared to trying to use a cell phone or other complex system as a substitute for a medical alert system. We also offer AutoFALL technology to provide automatic fall detection in the event you are unable to press the button. AutoFALL is available for our HOME and HOME & AWAY systems - click here to learn more about auto fall alert options.

Yes, we can protect multiple people at the same residence, no extra charge for monitoring. For each person to have their own personal medical alert button, see the list below for costs (if any) and how many buttons are supported:

HOME Medical Alert System - Comes with 1 button, no extra charge to monitor 2 people. Additional standard wearable or wall mounted buttons (up to 16) available for $29.95 each, additional AutoFALL Pendant is $60.00.

HOME Celluar Medical Alert System - Comes with 1 button, no extra charge to monitor 2 people - just ask for an extra button. Additional standard wearable or wall mounted buttons (up to 16) available for $29.95 each, additional AutoFALL Pendant is $60.00.

<href="https://www.medicalcarealert.com/home-away-FLEX-gps-medical-alert-system/"> HOME & AWAY Medical Alert System with GPS - Comes with 1 cellular GPS pendant. A second person would need their own separate system. Ask about our "Couple's Discount" to help save some money.

Our hospital grade equipment does not go off accidentally by turning over in your sleep or bending. We do not charge for false alarms, check with your local authorities on their policies.

We include a free lockbox with our annual plans, or you may purchase one from us at a discounted price.
The key lockbox is a secure box which easily attaches to your home - just like a real estate agent uses when showing a home for sale. Local emergency personnel are given the combination to the lockbox so they can quickly get a key to your home in the event of an emergency. The lockbox can also be used so that family members or friends can readily get a key to your home when necessary.

You can easily take our "HOME" Medical Alert System with you on vacation, or if you are a SnowBird. It is very easy to unplug and re-install. Simply notify Medical Care Alert Customer Service at 877-913-3680 of your current location. Information can be changed anytime and as many times as needed at no charge.

Our "HOME & AWAY" systems can be taken anywhere in the USA. You will be protected anywhere you have coverage with the AT&T or Verizon Cellular Wireless network.

Ordering your medical alert system takes less than 5 minutes. We will need the name, address, and phone number of the protected person and where we will be shipping the system to. We will also ask for you to provide a few names and numbers of family members or neighbors you want called in case of an emergency.

Once you receive the system, you will return paperwork to us. You complete your Personal Profile which includes additional names and numbers in the order you want notified, a lockbox code and any medical information or special instructions. This information is kept strictly confidential by our HIPPA-Compliant Emergency Response Center. When you order you will also need to provide your initial payment using a credit card or debit card.

Unfortutantely, it is not covered by insurance. Medicaid, Medicare, and most insurance or plans do not pay for a medical alert system. Medicaid and Medicare do not consider it a "medical necessity". You can seek reimbursement, or pay privately for a medical alert system which generally cost between $19.95 - $49.95 a month.

Medical Care Alert ships your medical alert system the same day if the order is received by 1:00 PM Eastern Time, Monday-Friday. All personal emergency response systems are shipped using US Postal Service Priority Mail. Ask your representative about the various shipping options available, including overnight shipping. Just call our sales associates at 1-855-272-1010 to order today. Our representatives are available to answer your questions. Ordering takes about 5 minutes.

We accept all major Credit Cards, and Debit Cards. Our most popular billing plans are Quarterly, Semi-Annual and Annual. Get one month free when you pay annually in advance. Any unused balances will be refunded if you cancel the service after the first 14 days - no problem. Monthly billing also available.

For security reasons (yours and ours), we no longer accept payment by paper check, money order or ACH.

The cost of a Medical Alert System is an eligible medical expense for use with Health Savings Accounts (HSA) and/or Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA). Some carriers may request a doctor's prescription or note for the "personal emergency response system". If you don't have an HSA or FSA, check with your health insurance carrier for specific coverage. Ask about coverage for Personal Emergency Response Systems with procedure code S5161.

No problem. We have no long term commitments, so simply notify us that you want to send the system back and discontinue service. Once we receive the medical alert system equipment back from you, we will cancel your service and cheerfully refund any pre-paid balances on your account. Learn more about our medical alert return process here.

Yes, information can be changed anytime and as many times as needed at no charge.

We want you to be happy and confident with your system. But if it’s not right for you, you know you can send it back for a full refund during the first 14 days, no hassles.

f you're not completely satisfied, call our customer service team at 1-248-946-8172 and return the system for a full refund, or see if one of our other systems does a better job of meeting your needs.

Click Here to read the full 14-day refund policy and return procedure. No fine print, but one caveat: we ask you to actually hook the system up and test it with our Emergency Response Center to give it a real test before returning the system. After all, if you don’t hook the system up, then you don’t really know if it will meet your needs. If you choose to return the system without testing it, then we will deduct a nominal $50 fee from your refund to cover our costs of programming the system and setting up your account. Please keep this in mind if you are planning to give someone a system as a gift. So test your system and see for yourself!

If you are the primary caregiver for a senior family member, the decisions often fall on your shoulders. It is hard for you to get everyone to agree on anything, especially where money is concerned. Remind the other family members that over 68% of seniors will suffer from a fall in their own home, often with tragic consequences. You do not want to take the risk of having an emergency situation where your senior loved one cannot get immediate help. Our subscription fees are as low as $27.45 a month… less than $1 a day - a reasonable price to pay for peace of mind and truly life saving help when needed.

Here are some articles that may help you to start the conversation about getting protected with a Medical Care Alert system:

• How To Get Mom Or Dad To Wear Their Medical Alert Pendant
• Safety Tips for Older Adults

Regardless of where they live, they will be home alone at times and may suffer a fall, stroke or other medical emergency. If your older parents live with you, you still need to go grocery shopping, run errands and so on, and you cannot always be there 24/7 365 days a year. A medical alert system provides peace of mind for all of you.

While you can certainly call 911 from a cell phone or landline phone, this is not a substitute for a medical alert system for the following reasons:

• You Don't Wear It. The medical alert button must be on your person and available to signal for help in an emergency. If the cell phone is not on your person and easily accessed, you can't make the call.
• It's Hard To Do. In an emergency, will your loved one really have the presence of mind to open a phone, dial 911 (using small keys on the keypad), raise it to their mouth and be able to give their name, location and condition?
• Cell phones need to be charged. Will your loved one have it charged and on them, accessible during an emergency? What about at night while they are sleeping and have an emergency? Medical alert buttons are always on and have batteries that last five to seven years.
• 911 won't know who or where you are. Cell phones do not provide your name or location - the cell phone will provide 911 the location of the nearest cellular tower, and possibly GPS coordinates within 300 meters of your location.
• 911 is not always local. Some municipalities route 911 calls to a county or other authority. This can add time to getting help when you need it most. As part of our medical alert service, we verify in advance which services dispatch to your exact address - saving important time in an emergency.