As negotiations continue over a new contract between Northern Light Health and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield on Monday, insurance officials said their patients are now out of network for some Northern Light health services.

In a statement Saturday, Northern Light President and CEO R. Guy Hudson said Anthem enrollees would not be considered out of network while negotiations are ongoing. Karen Sanborn, a spokesperson for Northern Light Health, said Monday that the health system will not bill Anthem or its patients until the negotiations are resolved.

Jim Turner, an Anthem spokesperson, said in a statement Monday that the contract between the two parties for non-hospital services — including physicians, specialists and walk-in clinics — ended Oct. 31, making Anthem’s patients out of network for those services starting Nov. 1. The contract for hospital services ends on Dec. 31.

“Northern Light Health saying they will treat patients as in-network — with no plan or agreement to do so — is a recipe for patient confusion, incorrect charges to patients, and other complications,” Turner said in the emailed statement.

Turner said an agreement needs to be reached or a contract extension made for Anthem’s patients to be considered in-network with Northern Light.

In an emailed statement Saturday, Hudson said he wanted to “reassure our patients who are Anthem customers that they can continue to receive care with Northern Light Health, without disruption while these negotiations continue — they will not be treated as out of network. We are committed to their health and care, which is why we are dedicated to a contract that protects the services they need.”

Turner said Anthem, which has about 30,000 Northern Light patients, has offered to sign an extension with Northern Light.

“We continue to offer an extension to Northern Light, but they refuse, and we don’t know why since they are saying they are willing to treat patients as in-network. Nonetheless, we can sign that extension (Monday) if they are willing to do so,” Turner said in the statement Monday.

If a patient receives out-of-network services, they typically have to pay higher out-of-pocket costs compared to in-network health care.

The two sides have been entangled in months-long negotiations. When the contract lapsed on Oct. 1, as negotiations were ongoing, Anthem patients were out-of-network for several hours, but a contract extension was signed and they were retroactively considered in-network. The original contract for non-hospital services expired on Sept. 30.

Northern Light is the second-largest health care system in Maine, and operates Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Mercy Hospital in Portland, and numerous primary care and specialty services.