A contract dispute between Blue Shield of California and Community Medical Centers (CMC) may sound like something confined to boardrooms and legal teams. But here in Fresno, it is unfolding in very real places: exam rooms, at pharmacy counters and in anxious conversations happening at kitchen tables around our city.

In Calwa, many families already live on tighter margins, balancing rising costs with limited access to resources. In West Fresno, residents face longstanding health disparities and higher rates of chronic illness. When health care options shrink in these neighborhoods, the consequences are not theoretical. They are immediate.

As of Feb. 1, the contract between Blue Shield and Community Medical Centers expired, pushing CMC and Community Health Partners out of network. The result is confusion, higher out-of-pocket costs, disrupted care and delayed treatment for thousands of Fresno residents, including up to 5,000 City of Fresno employees and retirees who depend on these providers for their healthcare.

Health care is not interchangeable. Continuity of care is not optional.

A cancer patient cannot simply “shop around” for a new oncologist. A senior citizen managing heart disease in West Fresno should not have to restart their medical history because two powerful institutions cannot finalize a contract. A working parent in Calwa should not have to wonder whether they can afford to keep their child’s pediatrician.

These disruptions are not inconveniences; they carry real consequences.

And at a time when we should be expanding health care access, opening more facilities, strengthening provider networks and making it easier for people to receive care, options are being eliminated for the very people who need them most.

Negotiations happen. Disagreements are part of any system. But when those disagreements begin to destabilize care for working families, accountability must follow.

Blue Shield and Community Medical Centers are not simply debating reimbursement rates. They are shaping whether Fresno families can access preventive services, manage chronic illness and receive timely treatment without fear of financial hardship. The longer this dispute continues, the more strain it places on real people who have no seat at the negotiating table.

We believe the City of Fresno has a responsibility to speak clearly when our residents are caught in the middle of decisions beyond their control. That is why we unanimously passed a resolution to formally urge both parties to return to good-faith negotiations, prioritize patient-centered outcomes, and resolve this dispute quickly and fairly.

But advocacy alone is not enough.

Our call to action is straightforward: Blue Shield and Community Medical Centers must resolve this dispute immediately and restore in-network access. Not months from now. Not after more patients are forced to delay care or face unexpected bills. Now!

From Calwa to West Fresno and throughout our entire city, Fresno’s working families deserve a healthcare system that expands access, not shrinks it. That is the standard we will continue to protect for every family in our community.

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Annalisa Perea is the City of Fresno council representative for District 1 and Mike Karbassi, council president, serves District 2.