(Indianapolis, Ind.) - Federal health care reform may not cost Indiana as much as previously thought, but that number could still be in the billions.

The Indianapolis Star reports an actuarial consulting firm hired by Governor Mitch Daniels told the state's Medicaid oversight commission this week that the cost would be around $2.6 billion over the next decade.

The figure is about $1 billion less than predictions made earlier this year by Milliman Inc. That initial projection of $3.6 billion assumed all eligible Hoosiers would enroll in Medicaid, but federal estimates project 80 percent of eligible state residents enrolling.

Democrat state lawmakers expect the forecasted state cost of reform to decline further.  However, a spokesperson for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration said a best case scenario would still force Indiana into finding more than $2 billion to fund reform.