The M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual (hereinafter, ''"M-21 Manual"'' or "''Manual''") details policies and procedures for

Veterans Benefits Administration The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. It is responsible for administering the department's programs that provide financial and other forms of assistance to veterans, their dependents, ...

(VBA) staff who develop and adjudicate U.S. veterans'

disability benefit Disability benefits are funds provided from public or private sources to a person who is ill or who has a disability. United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, disability benefits are covered by Department for Work and Pensions. There are numerous b ...

claims.

Features

The M21-1 Manual contains features designed to assist Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) staff and other users.

In-text hyperlinked references

The ''Manual ''frequently references

statutes A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

regulations Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...

, and

case law Case law, also used interchangeably with common law, is a law that is based on precedents, that is the judicial decisions from previous cases, rather than law based on constitutions, statutes, or regulations. Case law uses the detailed facts of ...

relevant to the particular policy or procedure discussed therein.

Continuously updated

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) continuously updates the ''Manual'', with the dates of any additions, deletions, or modifications provided within the ''Manual'' itself.

Improved usability

The Veterans Benefits Administration has made an effort to improve the

usability Usability can be described as the capacity of a system to provide a condition for its users to perform the tasks safely, effectively, and efficiently while enjoying the experience. In software engineering, usability is the degree to which a softw ...

of the ''Manual''. Beginning in 2015 the agency transferred the ''Manual ''from the WARMS (Web Automated Reference Material System) platform to their ''KnowVA Knowledge Base''.

Case law summaries

The ''Manual ''includes a concise synopsis of important veterans law cases decided by the

Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and administer justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. Courts general ...

Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is one of the 13 United States courts of appeals. It has special appellate jurisdiction over certain categories of cases in the U.S. federal ...

, and

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

Legal status

The M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual does not constitute

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, in contrast to

federal regulations In the law of the United States, the ''Code of Federal Regulations'' (''CFR'') is the codification of the general and permanent regulatory law, regulations promulgated by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government of the ...

, and federal

. The Department of Veterans Affairs has stated, “ e M21-1 is an internal manual used to convey guidance to VA adjudicators. It is not intended to establish substantive rules beyond those contained in statute and regulation.” At the same time, federal courts consult the M-21 Manual to determine if VA's actions conform with their own regulations, policies, and procedures, and to gain insight into the meaning and intent of VA regulations.

Does the ''M21-1 Manual'' constitute rule-making subject to review by the Federal Circuit?

Seal of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Veterans advocacy organizations such as

Disabled American Veterans The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is an organization created in 1920 by World War I veterans for disabled military veterans of the United States Armed Forces that helps them and their families through various means. It was issued a federal ch ...

(DAV) and the National Organization of Veterans' Advocates (NOVA) have argued that many additions to the ''M21-1 Manual'' constitute "interpretative rules" and that the

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is one of the 13 United States courts of appeals. It has special appellate jurisdiction over certain categories of cases in the U.S. federal ...

therefore has jurisdiction to review such changes upon direct appeal by a veteran. The Federal Circuit concluded in 2017 that ''M2-1 Manual'' provisions do ''not ''fall under the purview of the Court. However, in 2020 the court overruled aspects of that decision in ''National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates, Inc. v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs'' (Fed. Cir. 2020), a unanimous

en banc In law, an ''en banc'' (; alternatively ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank''; ) session is when all the judges of a court sit to hear a case, not just one judge or a smaller panel of judges. For courts like the United States Courts of Appeal ...

decision. In an amicus brief for that 2020 case (''NOVA v. Sec'y Veterans Affs.''), the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP),

Veterans of Foreign Wars The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an Voluntary association, organization of United States Armed Forces, United States war veterans who fought in wars, Military campaign, campaig ...

(VFW), and

Paralyzed Veterans of America The Paralyzed Veterans of America was established in 1946 with the goal of serving the needs of disabled veterans. The organization was created to assist members, such as veterans of the armed forces living with spinal cord injuries or diseases l ...

(PVA) had argued:

Congress require Federal Register publication of all generally applicable interpretive rules ... he Department of Veterans Affairs cannotevade section 552(a)(1) by issuing a generally applicable rule in the 21-1 Adjudication ProceduresManual. Promulgation of “interpretations of general applicability” via a manual does not make them any less reviewable. If DAV’s 'DAV v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs'' (Fed. Cir. 2017)erroneous mutual exclusivity theory survives, DVA epartment of Veterans Affairscan insulate substantive rules and generally applicable policy statements and interpretations, and avoid pre-enforcement judicial review, simply by promulgating them through the Manual.

In ''NOVA v. Secretary of Veterans Affairs'' (Fed. Cir. 2020), the court stated that the "government also concedes that whether an interpretive rule is actually published in the Federal Register does not dictate whether this court has jurisdiction, as 'VA cannot insulate a rule from pre-enforcement review simply by placing it in the Manual'" and the "VA Manual provision governing knee joint stability … announces VA’s adoption of an interpretive rule establishing a new metric for assessing knee instability claims. It limits VA staff discretion, and, as a practical matter, impacts veteran benefits eligibility for an entire class of veterans."

Prominent M21-1 sections

Some sections of the M21-1 Manual have received significant attention from various groups such as investigatory bodies like the VA

Office of Inspector General In the United States, Office of Inspector General (OIG) is a generic term for the oversight division of a federal or state agency aimed at preventing inefficient or unlawful operations within their parent agency. Such offices are attached to man ...

General Accountability Office The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) is an independent, nonpartisan government agency within the legislative branch that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the United States Congress. It is the sup ...

, veterans service organizations, the press, Congress, and others.

Telehealth and telemental health examinations

In February 2020, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) issued an audit report titled, ''Telehealth Public-Use Questionnaires Were Used Improperly to Determine Disability Benefits'', which critiqued VBA's enforcement of telehealth examinations for mental disorders.

Reorganization of the M21-1 Manual

The Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) announced in May 2021 that they had initiated a reorganization of the M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual.
''Memorandum of Changes''
(May 10, 2021); ''see also'
M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual, FY21 Reorganization Guide
(''rev''. Apr. 30, 2021). The agency indicated they intend to “

ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The n ...

the M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual (M21-1) a more consumable and navigable resource.”

Notes

References

{{reflist Veterans' affairs in the United States United States Department of Veterans Affairs publications Disability law in the United States Veterans' affairs law in the United States