(a) The Medicaid Agency of the State of Alabama, the single state agency charged with responsibility for administering the Alabama Medicaid Program, is hereby authorized to contract, for periods not to exceed seven years, with one or more fiscal intermediaries for the purpose of receiving, processing, and paying claims for services rendered recipients of the Alabama Medicaid Program; provided, that such contracts shall comply in all other respects with the provisions of the Alabama Competitive Bid Law as codified in Sections 41-16-20 through 41-16-32, as amended.
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) notwithstanding, the Medicaid Agency of the State of Alabama may extend the present contract in existence on September 1, 2007, for two additional years through September 30, 2011.