Report 2015-605 Recommendation 4 Responses

Report 2015-605: High Risk - Covered California: It Must Ensure Its Financial Sustainability Moving Forward, and Its Use of Sole-Source Contracts Needs Improvement (Release Date: February 2016)

Recommendation #4 To: Covered California

Before executing any sole-source contracts, Covered California should adequately document the necessity for using a noncompetitive process in its written justifications and, in doing so, demonstrate valid reasons for not competitively bidding the services.

60-Day Agency Response

The Non-Competitive Bid form (HBEX 029) was implemented in April 2015, which requires written justification for using the non-competitive bid process. In order to consider using a non-competitive bid process, Covered California must clearly demonstrate and fully justify why a competitive process is not being pursued. The justification must then be reviewed independently by the Executive Director and/or his designee. Supporting documents will be submitted via the California State Auditor's secure email system.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Fully Implemented

As part of our assessment of Covered California's implementation of this recommendation, we reviewed supporting documentation and determined that Covered California is following its new process implemented in April 2015.

All Recommendations in 2015-605

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.