Exchange board to meet Tuesday to discuss procurement, after flap over no-bid contract with board member

Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho’s insurance exchange board meets Tuesday to discuss how it buys services after state lawmakers criticized a $375,000 no-bid contract awarded to one of its members. The Your Health Idaho exchange board meets at 11 a.m. to discuss its procurement process. On Friday, House Speaker Scott Bedke called it “indefensible” for exchange director Amy Dowd to give board member Frank Chan a big technology contract without advertising it publicly or letting others bid. Chan quit the board Wednesday after getting the contract. Though Dowd insists she has the authority to award contracts like the one with Chan, the exchange is operating under only a “draft” procurement policy that doesn’t specify when bidding must be competitive. The board said in May it would finalize that policy. That’s so far not happened.