MobileHelp Medical Alert System Review

When you start looking for a medical alert system, it can be hard to choose between an at-home or GPS-based system. MobileHelp gives you both in one system for under $50 per month. Most packages don’t require activation fees either—all you pay for is monitoring.

That said, MobileHelp’s equipment isn’t the sleekest. The GPS wearable stuffs a lot of features into one device, making it bigger than other options. It’s a handy device for loved ones, but it could get in the way of daily activities or feel uncomfortable after a long day.

MobileHelp’s pricing structure is transparent and easy to understand. For the eight packages available, each comes with the option to pay monthly, every 3 months, every 6 months, or every 12 months.

While $400 and up seems like a lot for a medical alert system, you’ll save money by paying in larger chunks once or twice a year. We like that you can adjust your payment schedule.

We’ve come across plenty of medical alert systems—also called personal emergency response systems (PERS)—with high entry prices and lots of extra fees. And we have some good news for you: MobileHelp is an exception. You won’t incur equipment fees. All you’ll have to pay for is monitoring.

The MobileHelp Classic kit is the only one that comes with a one-time processing fee ($49.95). Aside from that, you won’t have to worry about any extra costs looming around the corner, which helps to make MobileHelp one of the most affordable medical alerts on the market.

The flexible payment schedule makes MobileHelp more accessible to folks of all pay grades, especially families caring for multiple older loved ones. And no matter what schedule you choose, there are no contracts, so you can return it anytime.

MobileHelp doesn’t require you to sign a contract, but cancellation can be a little tricky.

If you received your equipment directly from MobileHelp, you need to send it back to cancel your service. The return shipping fees are your responsibility, and MobileHelp won’t cancel your service until they receive the equipment.

The bad news is you could get charged for a month you didn’t need if the equipment doesn’t arrive on time. But the good news is you’ll get a prorated refund based on the monthly cost—even if you paid in advance at a discounted rate.

According to MobileHelp’s terms of service, you won’t get a refund if your remaining balance is less than $15 when you cancel. MobileHelp also notes that its pricing is subject to change without notice. There’s no free price-lock guarantee like you get with other alert companies such as Bay Alarm Medical—it's one of the perks of the $6-a-month MobileHelp Connect Premium service, and it only locks in your MobileHelp fees for two years.

We dive deeper into details when we look at MobileHelp’s customer service.

MobileHelp offers a full breadth of medical alert equipment, including an at-home system and GPS wearable. For at-home systems, you can choose a cellular or landline connection for the base station and the type of waterproof wearable that suits you best.

Fall detection is available as an optional add-on for all packages. 

The base station itself has adjustable volume, a test and reset button, and of course, its giant red help button that’s easy to find in an emergency. Because the MobileHelp Classic system uses a cellular signal, you won’t need a landline to use it.

This system uses AT&T’s cellular signal (but you don’t need to be an AT&T customer). If you can get AT&T coverage in your area, the MobileHelp Classic should work just fine.

For an extra $6/mo., you can program the MobileHelp cellular base station with medication reminders. They're easy to set up in the caregiver portal.

When they leave the house, they can use the GPS lanyard. It sends their location to the monitoring center when they need help out of the house.

Our only complaint is that the GPS unit is bulky. So it’s not always easy to wear, especially during exercising or physical activity. But its bulk comes from its built-in speaker and microphone that help the wearer to speak with operators and call for help.

In our interactions with MobileHelp, the customer service representatives and monitoring center operators were helpful and patient. Our only complaint is the return and refund policy, especially if you’re sending back the equipment after a loved one has passed away.

The company doesn’t provide packaging to return the equipment in, and you’re responsible for the return shipping costs. On top of that, you can’t even cancel your service until MobileHelp has received the equipment. That means you’re being charged for service after your family member is no longer using it.

The company also makes it clear that prices are subject to change without notice. That means your monthly cost could increase.

But MobileHelp does some other things right:

• Trials: MobileHelp has a no-risk, 30-day trial, so you can find out if you like the MobileHelp equipment and service before you shell out any money.
• Simplicity: We also like that MobileHelp’s policies, packages, and pricing are transparent and simple.

We’ve lined up MobileHelp against some of the best medical alert systems we’ve reviewed. Here’s what we found.

• No equipment fees: MobileHelp charges only for monitoring, no matter what equipment you buy. Companies like LifeFone and Medical Alert also lease all of their equipment to you for free.
• Automatic fall detection is a standard extra: MobileHelp charges $1 more per month for fall detection compared to most competitors.  
• Monitoring fees depend on the equipment you choose: While MobileHelp doesn’t charge equipment fees, it does increase monitoring prices by package. GetSafe, on the other hand, charges for equipment (between $80 and $280), but all monitoring costs $27.95, regardless of the package you choose. 
• So-so caregiver features: MobileHelp's caregiver portal and location tracking app are pretty basic, but they get the job done. Brands like Medical Guardian and Aloe Care Health put more helpful tools in the hands of remote caregivers.
• Excellent value: While some of MobileHelp's packages cost over $50/mo., we think it's money well spent, especially compared to what you get from Life Alert or Lifeline for a similar price or higher.

MobileHelp lets you choose when to pay for monitoring and has a few unique equipment packages. But its return and cancellation policies could use some improvements, especially if you’re in the midst of grieving a loved one.

For anyone looking for an easy-to-use and affordable medical alert system, MobileHelp is worth your attention. Its equipment may not be head-turning, but the at-home and on-the-go systems provide independence for loved ones for when they need it most.

We used information from hands-on testing, customer reviews, research, and my father-in-law’s real-life experience to review MobileHelp’s medical alert systems. We considered customer policies, equipment and package offerings, monthly fees, and how easy the system was to understand and operate.

Our full rankings methodology has more details about how we rank and review products and services.

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