California Code, Government Code - GOV § 100505

(a) The board shall establish and use a competitive process to select participating carriers and any other contractors under this title.  Any contract entered into pursuant to this title shall be exempt from Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of Division 2 of the Public Contract Code, and shall be exempt from the review or approval of any division of the Department of General Services.  The board shall adopt a Health Benefit Exchange Contracting Manual incorporating procurement and contracting policies and procedures that shall be followed by the Exchange.  The policies and procedures in the manual shall be substantially similar to the provisions contained in the State Contracting Manual.

(b) The adoption, amendment, or repeal of a regulation by the board to implement this section, including the adoption of a manual pursuant to subdivision (a) and any procurement process conducted by the Exchange in accordance with the manual, is exempt from the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2).