An uptick in emergency room visits. Folks transitioning from independent living to nursing homes.

That's the potential result of more state Medicaid cutbacks, Erin Yinger predicts.

"The state is looking at cutting all adult PSR services, which are home and community based services," said Yinger, director of A New Hope Social Services in Coeur d'Alene. "(That) would require some of those participants to move into higher levels of care."

With the Legislature looking at slashing $50 million from Medicaid services, Yinger said, individuals with developmental disabilities and mental illness will lose professional home care they depend on, putting them at higher risk for hospitalization or incarceration.

But Yinger and other professionals in the mental health and developmental disability fields refuse to see the funding disappear without a fight.

Local care providers are holding a Medicaid Matters rally on Saturday advocating for a new tax to prevent further Medicaid cuts, in conjunction with 17 other demonstrations scheduled across the state that day.

"(The goal) is to bring awareness to the potential cuts to adult developmental disability and adult mental health services," Yinger said.

The rallies have been orchestrated by nonprofit Community Partnerships of Idaho, Inc.

The Coeur d'Alene rally is slated for noon at the St. Vincent de Paul HELP center at 201 E. Harrison Ave.

The agencies will also be circulating petitions calling for their ideal solution - a new sales tax for cigarettes, Yinger added.

"A one cent per pack tax would be enough money to keep these critical services in place," she said.

Patricia Brook, executive director of operations at A Better Personal Care Inc., said the pending Medicaid cuts put staff in these fields at risk for drastic pay reductions.

"We employ so many," said Brook, adding that her agency has more than 100 staff. "These people work hard in clients' homes. We take care of elderly that are very vulnerable."

Clients have already been affected by Medicaid cuts adopted this year, Brook added. Some individuals who were receiving 25 hours of home care are now down to 5.

"We can't imagine any more cuts," Brook said.

Clients and care providers will all be at the rally, Yinger said. Members of the public are encouraged to join in.

"(Participants will be) people in support of continuation of community based services so they can maintain their independence and their homes," she said.