Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse System (CLER) for Agencies

System Capabilities and Interface

Payroll offices electronically submit quarterly FEHB Federal Employees Health Benefits enrollment data directly to NFC. Carriers submit their FEHB Federal Employees Health Benefits enrollment data quarterly to the OPM Office of Personnel Management data hub which in turn submits the data to NFC National Finance Center. Upon receipt, the enrollment data is processed into NFC National Finance Center’s mainframe. The Mainframe database stores, maintains, processes, edits, matches, combines, and compares the enrollment data from the payroll offices to the data from the carriers using edit tables.

After the data is loaded into the Mainframe, the data is sent to the CLER Federal Employees Health Benefits, Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse System Web server where the Agencies, carriers, OPM Office of Personnel Management, and NFC National Finance Center access the data for inquiries, contact information updates, discrepancy corrections, and report generation.

Using the Web server, an Agency may query on its data. To assist the Agency with the reconciliation process, reports are developed using the report generation capabilities that are modeled on NFC National Finance Center’s Reporting Center. Using the data that resides in CLER Federal Employees Health Benefits, Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse System, users can tailor their reports to meet their specifications. Based on the Agency analysis, a discrepancy with the carrier data may be encountered. The Agency may submit forms requesting corrective action from the carrier electronically using the CLER Federal Employees Health Benefits, Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse System Web server. The corrective action request file is forwarded from the Web server through the NFC National Finance Center mainframe, where it is processed and transmitted to the carrier through OPM Office of Personnel Management’s data hub.

Carriers respond to the corrective action request directly through the Web server. The carrier response and update is maintained on the database and is available for inquiry by the Agencies. To further assist the carrier in the response, the carrier may develop customized reports in CLER Federal Employees Health Benefits, Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse System.

Agencies and carriers have primary contacts in each of their organizations and must maintain the contact information in CLER Federal Employees Health Benefits, Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse System.

OPM Office of Personnel Management oversees the operation of CLER Federal Employees Health Benefits, Centralized Enrollment Clearinghouse System. To perform this role, OPM Office of Personnel Management has inquiry and report capabilities for all carriers and Agency participants. The system provides statistical information relative to the number of discrepancies, occurrence rates, corrective actions, enrollment changes, etc. This information provides OPM Office of Personnel Management with data needed to effectively manage and oversee the FEHB Federal Employees Health Benefits reconciliation process.

NFC National Finance Center maintains the system, updates all tables and edits as necessary, and maintains system security.