Appealing Adverse Decisions to the BHA and Beyond (2022 Elder Law Institute Session)

Attorney Marone is senior counsel in the Estate Planning and Elder Law firm of Gerhard and Gerhard, P.C., and has extensive experience representing elderly individuals and people with disabilities in a variety of matters involving Medical Assistance (Medicaid) benefits, wills and trusts, estate planning, guardianship, and Special Needs Trusts. He has pursued cases on behalf of his clients in a variety of forums including Orphans’ Court, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court, federal court, as well as administrative hearings. He successfully litigated matters involving Medicaid Qualifying Annuities, Medicaid eligibility, the modification and termination of defective trusts, and the establishment, modification, and amendment of Special Needs Trusts. Mr. Marone began practicing law in 1994. After a lengthy military deployment, he joined the Office of General Counsel to the Governor of Pennsylvania in 2007. For seven years he represented various agencies of the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and was the Department’s primary litigator and appellate attorney for both Medical Assistance long-term care and special needs trust issues in all the counties of eastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Marone left government service for private practice in 2014. He was a partner with McAndrews Law Offices focusing on elder law and special needs trust matters. He joined Harvey, Ballard, and Bornstein, L.L.C. as a partner in 2020, and then Gerhard and Gerhard, P.C.in 2025 to focus on complex Medicaid and special needs trust matters, including those that require guardianship. Attorney Marone is an active member of the Pennsylvania Association of Elder Law Attorneys (PAELA) and was named the 2023 PAELA Person of the Year and serves on the PAELA Board and Public Policy Committee. Mr. Marone is a lifelong resident of Philadelphia. He is retired from the military and is a veteran.

Mr. Newell is Senior Counsel with the Governor’s Office of General Counsel, Department of Human Services (“DHS”).He has been a member of the DHS Southeast Regional Legal Office for more than twenty-five years. Mr. Newell’s practice areas include Medical Assistance – Long Term Care (“MA-LTC”) and Special Needs Trusts (“SNTs”).Mr. Newell’s previous experience with DHS included working as an Administrative Law Judge for the Department’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. For more than two decades, Mr. Newell has lectured for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, county bar associations and other entities on various issues associated with MA-LTC eligibility and SNTs. Mr. Newell received his B.A. from Temple University and his J.D. from the Temple University School of Law.