§ 600.410 Competitive contracting process.

(a) General requirement. In order to receive initial HHS certification as described in § 600.120, the State must assure in its BHP Blueprint that it complies with the requirements set forth in this section.

(b) Contracting process. The State must:

(1) Conduct the contracting process in a manner providing full and open competition consistent with the standards of 45 CFR 92.36(b) through (i);

(2) Include a negotiation of the elements described in paragraph (d) of this section on a fair and adequate basis; and

(3) Consider the additional elements described in paragraph (e) of this section.

(c) Initial implementation exceptions. (1) If a State is not able to implement a competitive contracting process described in paragraph (b) of this section for program year 2015, the State must include a justification as to why it cannot meet the conditions in paragraph (b), as well as a description of the process it will use to enter into contracts for the provision of standard health plans under BHP.