No elected or appointed official of the State of West Virginia; nor any member, officer, or employees of the Legislature; nor any officer, agent, servant or employee in the executive branch of state government shall have any interest, direct or indirect, in the gain or profits arising from any contract or contracts provided for in this article. Any such person who shall gain, directly or indirectly, from any contract or contracts herein provided for, except as an insured beneficiary thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding $1,000, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not exceeding one year, or by both, in the discretion of the court: Provided, That nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an elected or appointed official of this state, nor an employee of the legislative, judicial or executive branches, from providing health care or entering into contracts provided for in section seventeen of this article.