BOSTON -- As the governor urges private companies to offer health coverage for more of their employees, thousands of state workers are left uninsured.

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NewsCenter 5's Anthony Everett reported that Gov. Mitt Romney said he wants a low cost health insurance option for the uninsured by the end of the year and he has urged private companies to do their part by insuring their employees. But, the commonwealth of Massachusetts itself is not insuring all of its employees.

For the past seven years, Dr. Virginia Byrnes has been working 25 to 30 hours a week for the state, examining medical histories and deciding who will receive disability benefits.

But while she decides who will get the benefits, the doctor herself receives no health insurance coverage.

"I think it's a great tragedy really, particularly for state workers and particularly in light of Romney's intention to encourage private businesses to provide health insurance," she said.

More than 10 percent of the employees at the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission do not have health insurance benefits because they are contract workers.

"We are all working on the same claims for disability, in the same building, under the same conditions, under the direction of the state," said Byrnes.

But some of the employees do receive benefits.

"And some of us are not," said Byrnes. "Despite the similarities, despite that some of my colleagues have worked in this position for more than 20 years."

While Romney is pressuring private businesses to provide health coverage, Brynes want to know why he's not doing the same for state workers. Three months ago, she wrote the governor a letter, but to date, has not received a response.

"If I could talk to the governor about Mass Rehab, I would ask him to look into our situation and determine that we are indeed employees and entitled to the same benefits that other employees get," Byrnes said.

Approximately 2,300 state workers are classified as contract workers. They're viewed as private consultants who get no medical insurance, vacation time or other benefits. About 15 percent of them work full-time, are permanent and have the same responsibilities as full-time state employees.

"We think something needs to be done for these folks, but making them state employees is not the reasonable course," said Ron Preston, secretary of Massachusetts Health and Human Resources.

Preston said businesses, including the state, need part-time or contract workers, and the problem isn't how they are employed, but how expensive it is to buy their own insurance.

"We do need flexibility in our workforce that having contract workers affords us. But there needs to be something in the system that allows them to get reasonably priced health insurance," said Preston.

Byrnes said as a doctor, she is disappointed by the health care system in the state and in the rest of the country.

"I am very disappointed. I'm disappointed the way the workers are treated. I am disappointed the way the individual person is treated by the health care system," she said.

Contract employees for the state do get additional compensation that is intended to be used for fringe benefits like health insurance. But even state officials acknowledge it often isn't enough to pay for insurance. Officials said the problem is not the use of contract employees, it's the skyrocketing cost of health insurance for everyone.

Romney has proposed a program called Commonwealth Care as a way to insure the uninsured.