DES MOINES, Iowa–  The Henderson family from Pleasant Hill is fighting to keep their daughter in an in-patient mental health facility in Missouri.

The family says their managed care organization UnitedHealthcare wants her returned to Iowa and treated at an outpatient program.

The fifteen-year-old girl suffers from bipolar and has RAD which is Reactive Attachment Disorder.

The family says inpatient treatment is the only thing that has helped in the past three years.

When we first brought you the story Tuesday, we stated UnitedHealthcare didn’t respond to our calls for a response.

However, the company did send us a medical waiver made out to another news organization asking for it to be filled out.

Once the form was corrected and signed by the Henderson family on Thursday, UnitedHealthcare released a statement saying:

“UnitedHealthcare is committed to providing health and wellness services to our members in the least restrictive and community-based setting wherever possible. M.H. has been in a psychiatric medical institute for children approximately 1,100 days since June 2015. In 2016, the average length of stay for Iowa children was 30 to 90 days with less than one percent requiring treatment for more than one year. 

As part of our regular review process with M.H. and her providers, it has been determined that she is ready to live outside the institutional setting while still receiving the same level of services. M.H.’s family has requested she stay at the facility in Missouri until after the winter holidays. We believe a community-based setting is the right one for M.H., and where she is most likely to see the greatest improvements in the years to come”.

– Christina Witz, spokesperson for UnitedHealthcare Community & State.

An arbitrator has already decided that UnitedHealthcare should continue to pay for her inpatient treatment.

The Director of Medicaid Jerry Foxhoven has the final decision.