Cite as: 506 U. S. 125 (1992)
Opinion of the Court
ence to such covered programs must yield to ERISA.3 This conclusion is consistent with Mackey v. Lanier Collection Agency, which struck down a Georgia law that specifically exempted ERISA plans from a generally applicable garnishment procedure. 486 U. S., at 828, n. 2, and 829-830. It also follows from Ingersoll-Rand, where we held that ERISA § 514(a) pre-empted a Texas common-law cause of action for wrongful discharge based on an employer's desire to avoid paying into an employee's pension fund. Even though the employee sought no pension benefits, only "lost future wages, mental anguish and punitive damages," 498 U. S., at 136 (internal quotation marks omitted), we held the claim pre-empted because it was "premised on" the existence of an ERISA-covered pension plan. Id., at 140.
It makes no difference that § 2(c)(2)'s requirements are part of the District's regulation of, and therefore also "relate to," ERISA-exempt workers' compensation plans. The exemptions from ERISA coverage set out in § 4(b), 29 U. S. C. § 1003(b), do not limit the pre-emptive sweep of § 514 once it is determined that the law in question relates to a covered plan. See Alessi v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., 451 U. S. 504, 525 (1981) ("It is of no moment that New Jersey intrudes indirectly, through a workers' compensation law, rather than directly, through a statute called 'pension regulation' "). Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U. S. 85 (1983), does not support petitioners' position. Shaw dealt, in relevant part, with a New York disability law that required employers to pay weekly benefits to disabled employees equal to " 'one-half of the employee's average weekly wage.' " Id., at 90, n. 4 (quoting N. Y. Work. Comp. Law § 204.2 (McKinney Supp. 1982-1983)). We held that this law was not pre-3 ERISA does not pre-empt § 2(c)(2) to the extent its requirements are measured only by reference to "existing health insurance coverage" provided under plans that are exempt from ERISA regulation, such as "governmental" or "church" plans, see ERISA §§ 4(b)(1) and (2), 29 U. S. C. §§ 1003(b)(1) and (2).
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