Contracts for the procurement of prescription eyewear for recipients of the Alabama Medicaid Program which are competitively bid may be awarded to the bidder whose proposal is the most advantageous to the state for periods not to exceed three years taking into consideration cost factors, program stability factors, technical factors including understanding of program requirements, management plan, excellence of program design, key personnel, corporate or company resource and designated location, and other factors including financial condition and capability of the bidder, corporate experience and past performance and priority of the business to insure the contract awarded is the best for the purposes required. Each of these criteria shall be given relative weight value as designated in the invitation to bid. Responsiveness to the bid shall be scored for each designated criteria. If, for reasons cited above, the bid selected is not from the lowest bidding contractor, the Alabama Medicaid Agency must state its reasons for not recommending award to the low bidder to the awarding authority prior to the final awarding of any such contract; 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 used in this section, contracts for the procurement of prescription eye wear shall not include professional examination of the eye conducted for the purpose of measuring visual acuity and prescribing corrective lenses. The provisions of Section 38-1-2 shall remain in full force and effect.