The worst mistake people make is staying quiet and putting the bills through Medicare because a boss used deportation threats to scare them.

The smarter path is to report the work injury and treat it as a Maine workers' compensation claim.

In Maine, the key question is usually whether you were an employee hurt on the job. A supervisor's threat to "call ICE" does not cancel a valid injury claim. If you tore your shoulder lifting at a Biddeford warehouse, slipped on icy stairs, or got burned by a defective battery at work, that is still a work injury issue.

Do this fast:

• Give notice of the injury to your employer within 30 days
• Ask for medical care under workers' comp, not just Medicare
• If the employer refuses to report it, contact the Maine Workers' Compensation Board
• If you need help dealing with the system, ask for the Board's Worker Advocate Program

Using Medicare first can create problems. Medicare usually does not want to be the primary payer for treatment that should be covered by workers' comp, and that can turn into repayment fights later. On a fixed income, that is the last mess you need.

Maine also bars employers from discriminating or retaliating because a worker asserted a compensation claim. Threats meant to stop you from reporting an injury are a red flag, not a reason to back down.

If your employer never files the report or the insurer denies the claim, you may still file a petition with the Maine Workers' Compensation Board, but do not wait around. Maine has a 2-year deadline on many claims. In Cumberland County and York County, where many people commute through bad fall weather and early ice, delay is how valid claims get lost.