Dawne McKenna Parrish
Practice Areas
Education
- University of Cincinnati College of Law, J.D., 1996
- University of Cincinnati, MBA, 1995
- Kent State University, B.B.A., 1991, magna cum laude
Bar & Court Admissions
Dawne is a partner in the Vorys Cincinnati and Columbus offices and a member of the labor and employment group. She focuses her practice on employee benefits and executive compensation issues. She has significant experience advising clients from small private businesses to large publicly held corporations regarding all aspects of employee benefits.
Dawne’s experience includes advising clients on the design and implementation of tax-qualified retirement and welfare benefit plans. She also regularly counsels clients regarding government reporting requirements and voluntary correction programs and other matters concerning retirement plans under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code and related IRS and DOL requirements. Dawne works closely with retirement plan administrators and their service providers regarding fiduciary compliance and with the implementation and maintenance of administrative and investment committee structure and processes. Additionally, she regularly advises clients regarding welfare plan administration and compliance under federal laws including: ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code, HIPAA, COBRA, GINA, ACA and related IRS, DOL, EEOC, CMS and HHS requirements.
Dawne has significant experience working as both in house counsel and as outside counsel. She also previously co-owned a small business where she was involved in all aspects of its management.
Professional and Community Activities
- ASPPA Benefits Council of Greater Cincinnati, Member
- Cincinnati Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee, Member
- Columbus Bar Association, Employee Benefits Committee, Member
- St. Gertrude Parish Finance Council, (2014-2019) Member, Previous Chairperson
News
- 5/15/2018Vorys announced that Dawne McKenna Parrish, an employee benefits attorney with more than 20 years of experience, has joined the firm as a partner.
Events
- 10/8/2021Throughout the Vorys Virtual Benefits Conference, Vorys attorneys provided updates and valuable insights regarding a variety of benefits-related topics.
- 4/1/2021Vorys attorneys Jennifer Dunsizer, Linda Mendel, Dawne McKenna Parrish and Christine Poth hosted a webinar about the employee benefit plan related provisions of the recently enacted Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
- 10/12/2020Vorys was proud to host a weeklong virtual program providing insights and updates for HR professionals from October 12-15, 2020.
- 3/25/2020Vorys attorneys Christine Poth, Jen Dunsizer, Dawne McKenna Parrish, and Elizabeth Howard discussed some common questions the Vorys benefits team was getting about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on employee benefit plans in a webinar.
- 10/16/2019The Vorys benefits team hosted the inaugural Vorys Benefits Conferences in Cincinnati on September 11, 2019 and in Columbus on October 16, 2019. These conferences were designed and developed specifically for in-house benefits professionals.
- 9/11/2019The Vorys benefits team hosted the inaugural Vorys Benefits Conferences in Cincinnati on September 11, 2019 and in Columbus on October 16, 2019. These conferences were designed and developed specifically for in-house benefits professionals.
- 4/18/2019On April 18, 2019, Vorys hosted its annual Cincinnati Labor and Employment Law Update.
- 9/19/2018On September 19, 2018 Vorys partners Jen Dunsizer and Dawne McKenna Parrish presented at Stay Ahead of the Curve: Hot Topics for Plan Sponsors.
- 4/26/2018On April 26, 2018, Vorys hosted its annual Cincinnati Labor and Employment Update.
Insights
- 9/13/2021Under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP), certain individuals known as assistance eligible individuals (AEIs) were eligible for a COBRA premium subsidy between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021.
- 6/21/2021In the 7-2 decision in California v. Texas handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court on June 17th, the third constitutional challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) that reached the Supreme Court was dismissed without reaching the merits of the constitutional arguments.
- 4/13/2021There has been a whirlwind of new legislation and guidance related to cafeteria plans and flexible spending accounts (FSAs), beginning with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in March 2020 through Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance issued March 26, 2021.
- 4/12/2021The American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) provides a 100% subsidy of COBRA premiums for Assistance Eligible Individuals (AEIs) starting April 1, 2021.
- 3/16/2021The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed by President Biden on March 11, 2021, includes a six-month 100% subsidy of COBRA premiums.
- 2/5/2021As briefly mentioned in a recent Vorys’ client alert, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA), signed December 27, 2020, requires that a group health plan and issuers that cover mental health/substance abuse disorder (MH/SUD) “perform and document” a comparative analysis of any non-quantitative treatment limitations that apply to the plan.
- 1/12/2021The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), signed December 27, 2020, will bring significant changes to group health plans in 2022, including new limits on surprise medical billing, reporting and disclosures.
- 11/12/2020On November 9, 2020, the Supreme Court announced that it would not reconsider the case of Retirement Plans Committee of IBM v. Jander, which the Court remanded to the Second Circuit in its last term.
- 10/6/2020On October 2, 2020, the IRS published Notice 2020-76 , announcing an automatic 30-day extension of the deadline to distribute 2020 Form 1095-Cs to employees.
- 8/28/2020The DOL expanded the option for electronic delivery of retirement plan notices and documents.
- 8/25/2020This is the second part of our three-part series reviewing ERISA cases decided this term by the U.S. Supreme Court.
- 5/22/2020On May 12, 2020, the IRS issued Notices 2020-29 and 2020-33. Notice 2020-29 provides employers with more flexibility for mid-year changes under cafeteria plan as well as permits the extension of grace periods and carryovers of unused 2019 FSA amounts through the end of 2020.
- 5/13/2020
- 5/8/2020The Department of Labor (DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued a Joint Notice extending the time frames for a wide range of group health plan participant related events.
- 12/31/2019On December 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held in Texas v. U.S. that the provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that requires individuals to maintain health insurance or pay a “shared responsibility payment” (i.e., the individual mandate) is unconstitutional.
- 12/11/2019The Vorys Employee Benefits Team has drafted alerts covering an array of regulatory and legislative changes throughout the year.
- 12/4/2019On December 2, 2019, the IRS published Notice 2019-63, announcing a 31-day extension of the deadline to distribute 2019 Form 1095-Cs to employees.
- 11/8/2019Benefits Alert: New California State Law Imposes Notification Requirements That May Affect Your FSAsStarting January 1, 2020, a new California state law will require employers to notify employees in California of any deadline to withdraw funds from a flexible spending account (FSA) prior to the end of the plan year.
- 10/24/2019Now that PBMs are able to track copay coupons using copay accumulator programs, additional guidance is needed from the IRS to determine whether plan sponsors are required to implement copay accumulator programs for HSA-compatible HDHPs.
- 10/2/2019On September 23, 2019, the Treasury Department published final regulations affecting hardship distributions for 401(k) and other retirement plans.
- 7/22/2019In order to contribute to a health savings account (HSA), an employee must be enrolled in a high deductible health plan (HDHP) and not have disqualifying health coverage.
- 6/25/2019The new regulations (published June 13, 2019) preserve preceding exceptions from the ACA prohibition on annual dollar limits and create two more: (1) an excepted benefit HRA and (2) an individual coverage HRA.
- 4/26/2019In 1990, Congress enacted the Federal Debt Collection and Procedures Act. One feature of that law allows a federal court to issue a “writ of continuing garnishment” to access a convicted participant’s retirement plan benefits to satisfy a restitution order entered as part of the participant’s criminal sentencing.
- 12/18/2018On December 14, 2018, a District Court in Texas held that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional. Texas v. United States, No. 4:18-cv-00167 (N.D. Tex. 12/14/2018). While the case makes its way through the appeal process, group health plan sponsors should continue to comply with the ACA.
- 12/3/2018On November 29, 2018, the IRS announced a 32-day extension of the deadline to distribute 2018 Form 1095-Cs to employees.
- 11/13/2018New hardship distribution regulations have been proposed for 401(k) and 403(b) retirement plans. Clients will need to make decisions about what changes they want to adopt and when.
- 8/28/2018On August 17, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published Private Letter Ruling 201833012, which directly addressed an employer’s ability to provide a student loan repayment benefit in its 401(k) plan.
- 5/7/2018On April 23, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) published a second draft of a model form, the Disclosure Template, that a group health plan participant (or his or her representative) may use to request documentation of compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA).
- 4/30/2018Less than two months after announcing a $50 reduction in the 2018 limit on HSA contributions for employees with family high deductible health plan coverage, the IRS backtracked and reinstated the original limit.