The bracelets carry an emergency number so first responders can access their medical records if they cannot speak for themselves, due to an allergic reaction, epilepsy or another condition.
However, chief executive Murray Lord has told RNZ that up to 9000 New Zealanders were letting lapse their $70-a year membership due to cost of living pressures.
"Over the last year or two we've had an increased incidence of people saying 'Look, I just can't find the money anymore'. We do everything we possibly can to help them keep their service - but being a charity, you're limited by the capacity of your funding."
Research commissioned by the foundation found for every dollar spent on the service, it saved the health system $11.
About 22 percent of the population could benefit from a medic alert bracelet, but it was currently only servicing around 2 percent.
However, that was already saving the country about $56 million a year in reduced hospital costs, harm and deaths, Lord said.
"If more people could access the service without these barriers, then through volume the cost of the service comes down but through technology and other aspects of the service, the value of it comes up.
"So it's a bit of a no-brainer really."
The enrolment process was another barrier for some people, but the capability was there (as Medic Alert was already a recognised health information service) to make it available to all, perhaps through their existing health record log-in.
"There's an opportunity here. The service is already deployed nationally, the software already exists.
"That technology is very advanced, it's connectable with other systems and it's life saving. We've got the opportunity to give every New Zealander access to that service, to get their information shared even if they can't talk, and make it accessible nationally and if they travel overseas."
