The department shall provide coverage through participating health plans and may contract for the processing of applications, the enrollment of subscribers, and activities necessary to administer the program. A contract entered into pursuant to this chapter shall be exempt from any provision of law relating to competitive bidding, and shall be exempt from the review or approval of any division of the Department of General Services. The department shall not be required to specify the amounts encumbered for each contract but may allocate funds to each contract based on projected and actual subscriber enrollments in a total amount not to exceed revenue available for the program.