Gov. Paterson’s administration awarded a $297 million federal contract without competitive bidding or public notice to GHI, the health-care provider whose parent company employs his wife, The Post has learned.

Legislative investigators are now looking into the huge, 3½-year contract that subsidizes insurance for uninsured individuals with pre-existing health problems — part of President Obama’s health-care reform act, state officials concede.

It could yield up to $30 million in “administrative costs” for Emblem Health, GHI’s (Group Health Inc.’s) parent company.