Part I, Subpart ii, Chapter 1, Section BOrganization of the Pension Management Centers (PMCs)

Revised November 20, 2023

I.ii.1.B.1.a#Purpose of the PMCs

In January 2002, the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) consolidated pension work into three pension maintenance centers, now referred to as pension management c enters (PMCs), in order to

• centralize processing of all running pension awards
• achieve a more effective use of limited human resources
• improve technical accuracy based on skills specialization and enhanced use of computer program edits, and
• allow Veterans Service Centers (VSCs) to concentrate on compensation claims processing.

Beginning May 2008, further consolidation resulted in the following types of caims being processed by the PMCs:

• original and new
  • Veterans Pension, and
  • Survivors Pension
• service connection (SC) for the cause of death of a Veteran
• in-service death claims received after adjudication of the original in-service death claim
• Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC)
• burial benefits
• accrued benefits, and
• requests for substitution.

In October 2021, VBA consolidated claims involving SC for the cause of death and burial claims to the Philadelphia PMC. The remaining PMC workload is processed by the Milwaukee and St. Paul PMCs.Notes:

• PMCs generally have jurisdiction over accrued claims and requests for substitution resulting from pension and/or survivors claims. VSCs have jurisdiction of accrued claims and requests for substitution resulting from disability compensation claims. Exceptions are noted in M21-1, Part XI, Subpart ii, 3.E.17.a.
• PMCs may be assigned as a restricted access claims center (RACC) to address claims designated as a sensitive level 7 or above.

References: For more information on the jurisdiction of

• RACC, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 2.B.1.b
• accrued claims or requests for substitution, see M21-1, Part XI, Subpart ii, 3.E.17.a
• in-service death claims, see M21-1, Part XII, Subpart i, 1.C.1
• in-service death claim labels for end product (EP) 130 and EP 140, see M21-4, Appendix C, and
• original in-service death claims, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 3.1.b.

2PMC Location and RO and PMC Alignment

This topic contains information on PMC location and RO and PMC alignment, including

• location of the PMCs
• jurisdiction of
  • the PMCs
  • concurrent EPs
  • correspondence and Ask VA (AVA) inquiries, and
  • hearings for PMCs
• permanent jurisdiction of survivor cases involving special issues
• permanent transfer of certain survivor cases, and
• when a claim is assigned to the wrong PMC.

Revised November 20, 2023

I.ii.1.B.2.a#Location of the PMCs

The three PMCs are located in

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and
• St. Paul, Minnesota.

I.ii.1.B.2.b#Jurisdiction of the PMCs

National Work Queue (NWQ) routes EPs with a claim label that includes PMC prefixes to a PMC without regard for state of residence, based on approved NWQ routing rules. Excluding claims necessitating routing to a special mission, PMC claims involving a decision for service-connected (SC) death or burial, to include error corrections, are the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia PMC. This includes the following:

• EP 140 series
• EP 160 series
• original Parents’ DIC, regardless of EP, and
• EP 020 series, only if a previous SC grant decision was not rendered which are captured using claim labels
  • 020NEWPMC
  • 020PNI , and
  • 020RSCDTHPMC.

Important :

• Once a SC death decision is granted, subsequent claims are the jurisdiction of the Milwaukee and St. Paul PMC, only if the claim is controlled by an EP other than those noted above.
• If SC death or burial decisions are needed on EPs other than those listed above, add the Burial/DIC Entitlement Issue special issue to the EP.

The table below lists the States and territories aligned with the two PMCs that will have jurisdiction of all other claims that are not being handled by the Philadelphia PMC when a geographic jurisdiction is needed for work not distributed by NWQ.

Exception: Original in-service death claims are not under the PMC jurisdiction, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 3.1.b for jurisdiction of original in-service death claims.

Note: Inventory managed by NWQ is routed for action to the appropriate PMC. The station of jurisdiction for this workload is the PMC at which the claim is currently assigned.

.

References: For more information on

• the jurisdiction of original in-service death claims, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 3.1.b

• in-service death claim labels for EP 130 and EP 140, see M21-4, Appendix C

• foreign jurisdictions, see

  • M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 3.1.b, and

  • M21-1, Part X, Subpart i, 3.A.2.a, and

• special missions, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 3.1.b.

I.ii.1.B.2.c#Jurisdiction of Concurrent EPs

EP 190 series are the jurisdiction of the Milwaukee and St. Paul PMCs. When an EP 190 and 160 are pending concurrently, the EP 190 will be worked by the Milwaukee or St. Paul PMC and the EP 160 by the Philadelphia PMC. Each PMC is expected to work their assigned claim to the next step in processing. However, if completion of the EP 160 is required to take any action on the pending EP 190, the claims processor

• will take all necessary actions possible
• update the suspense date of the EP 190 for five days past the current suspense of the EP 160, and
• add a Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) note that additional processing is deferred until the EP 160 is completed.

I.ii.1.B.2.d#Jurisdiction of Correspondence and AVA Inquiries

Ask VA (AVA) inquiries will be addressed by the

• Philadelphia PMC, if it is a burial or SC death determination, or
• Milwaukee and St. Paul PMCs, if it related to all other issues.

PMCs should direct Veterans Service Officers to submit inquiries to the appropriate e-mail addresses below based on claim jurisdiction.

• Milwaukee: PMCVSO.VBAMIW@VA.GOV
• St. Paul: PMC.CVSO.VBASPL@VA.GOV
• Philadelphia: PENSIONCTRVSO.VBAPHI@VA.GOV

PMCs should direct congressional offices to submit inquiries to the e-mail addresses below based on claim jurisdiction.

• Milwaukee: PMCCONGRESSIONAL.VBAMIW@VA.GOV
• St. Paul: PMCCONGR.VBASPL@VA.GOV
• Philadelphia: VBAPHI.PMCCONGRESSIONAL@VA.GOV

Use the table below to determine how to handle correspondence received at a PMC that does not have jurisdiction of the issue.

Note : Use the geographic jurisdiction list in M21-1, Part I, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.b to determine which PMC to manually broker EPs not managed by NWQ.

References : For more information on

• PMC jurisdictions, see M21-1, Part I, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.b, and

• definitions of the different types of correspondence, see M27-1, Part I, 5.3.a and 4.a.

I.ii.1.B.2.e#Jurisdiction of Hearings for PMCs

When a claimant requests a local hearing, the PMC having jurisdiction of the EP as noted in M21-1, Part I, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.b, will schedule a tele-video conference hearing with the claimant (and representative if applicable) and a PMC employee(s). The PMC with jurisdiction of the claim will decide the claim. The PMC will coordinate the tele-video conference with the Assistant Veterans Service Center Manager or designee at the claimant’s local regional office (RO). Reference: For more information on RO hearings, see M21-1, Part X, Subpart v, 1.D.

I.ii.1.B.2.f#Permanent Jurisdiction of Survivor Cases Involving Special Issues

The following special issues fall under the jurisdiction of the Philadelphia PMC:

• any service prior to July 16, 1903
• entitlement to benefits under a special act as provided in 38 CFR 3.801, and
• entitlement to a special allowance under
  • 38 U.S.C 1312(a), and
  • 38 CFR 3.804.

I.ii.1.B.2.g#Permanent Transfer of Certain Survivor Cases

An office or center should permanently transfer cases involving special issues identified in M21-1, Part I, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.d upon a report of death or upon the occurrence of the event establishing this jurisdiction. Reference: For more information on jurisdiction of claims involving a special mission or circumstance, see M21-1, Part II, Subpart ii, 3.1.b.

I.ii.1.B.2.h#When a Claim Is Assigned to the Wrong PMC

If a claim is assigned to the wrong PMC due to the erroneous use of a claim attribute such as a contention classification or special issue, correcting the attribute (e.g., special issue) will enable NWQ to recall and redistribute the claim to the correct PMC. If the claim type is not managed by NWQ (for example, EP 400s and EP 500s), manually broker the claim to the correct PMC. Brokered claims will still need the Burial/DIC Entitlement Issue special issue if it falls under Philadelphia PMC jurisdiction. Reference : For more information on how to determine which PMC to manually broker EPs not managed by NWQ, see M21-1, Part I, Subpart ii, 1.B.2.

3PMC Team Structure and Work Processing

This topic contains information on PMC team structure and work processing, including

• Intake Processing Center (IPC) at PMCs
• general processing teams at PMCs
• handling requests for higher-level reviews (HLRs) at PMCs, and
• Public Contact Team (PCT) and Quality Review Team (QRT) at PMCs.

Revised March 2, 2023

I.ii.1.B.3.a#IPC at PMCs

The Intake Processing Center (IPC) at the PMCs is primarily responsible for putting claims under EP control. As a local option, the IPC may include claims processors who may handle cases that do not generally require a claims folder review.

I.ii.1.B.3.b#General Processing Teams at PMCs

Work that is not retained by the IPC for processing is handled by claims processors on general processing teams. General processing team responsibilities include, but are not limited to

• initiating development, if needed, to resolve the issue
• making claims ready for the rating activity, and
• taking any necessary award action.

Examples of cases handled by general processing teams are

• initial and supplemental claims for
  • Veterans Pension, and
  • Survivors Pension, and
• income-related EP 150 issues.

I.ii.1.B.3.c#Handling Requests for HLRs at PMCs

Requests for higher-level reviews (HLRs) of claims processed by PMCs are to be routed to the decision review operations center of jurisdiction for processing per M21-5, Chapter 1, Section A.3 and M21-5, Chapter 5, Topic 2.

I.ii.1.B.3.d#PCT and QRT at PMCs

As a local option, a PMC may establish a Public Contact Team (PCT) to handle public contact-related work. PMCs must establish a Quality Review Team (QRT) to

• coordinate division training
• perform quality reviews, and
• identify and address error trends.

Reference: For more information on QRTs, see M21-4, Chapter 7.

4Special Cases Initially Under Exclusive Jurisdiction

Revised January 11, 2021

I.ii.1.B.4.a#Jurisdiction of Adjusted Compensation Cases

Philadelphia PMC retains cases involving initial settlement of adjusted compensation until a claim for survivors benefits is received. The World War Adjusted Compensation Act allows Veterans to file settlement or redeem certificates of adjusted compensation with VA. Adjusted Service Certificates were issued to Veterans who applied before January 3, 1940. To qualify for the bonus, a Veteran had to have at least 60 days of service between April 15, 1917, and November 11, 1918. Use the table below to determine how to handle a case involving adjusted compensation upon receipt of a claim for survivors benefits.

Reference: For more information on adjusted compensation, see

• 38 CFR 3.801

• 38 CFR 10.20, and

• 38 CFR 11.109.