Cite as: 524 U. S. 74 (1998)
Opinion of the Court
plan as of the date he elects COBRA continuation coverage is ineligible for COBRA coverage under § 1162(2)(D)(i), and that James Geissal presented insufficient evidence of detrimental reliance on Moore's representation that he was entitled to benefits under COBRA. The Magistrate also found that there was no significant difference between the terms of coverage under Aetna's plan and Moore's; they differed only in the amount of their respective deductibles, and there was no evidence that Aetna's plan excluded or limited coverage for James Geissal's condition.
The Magistrate then granted Geissal's unopposed motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(b) for the entry of final judgment on Counts I and II, and so enabled Geissal to seek immediate review of the Magistrate's decision. The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed, 114 F. 3d 1458 (1997), and we granted certiorari, 522 U. S. 1086 (1998), to resolve a conflict among the Circuits on whether an employer may deny COBRA continuation coverage under its health plan to an otherwise eligible beneficiary covered under another group health plan at the time he elects coverage under COBRA.4
II
A
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, Pub. L. 99-272, 100 Stat. 82, 222-237, amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, among other stat-4 Compare Lutheran Hosp., Inc. v. Business Men's Assurance Co., 51 F. 3d 1308 (CA7 1995) (an employer may not cease providing COBRA continuation coverage under its plan merely because its former employee has pre-existing coverage under another group health plan), and Oakley v. City of Longmont, 890 F. 2d 1128 (CA10 1989) (same), cert. denied, 494 U. S. 1082 (1990), with National Cos. Health Benefit Plan v. St. Joseph's Hosp., Inc., 929 F. 2d 1558 (CA11 1991) (an employer may suspend the COBRA continuation coverage of a former employee who had pre-existing coverage under another group health plan), and Brock v. Primedica, Inc., 904 F. 2d 295 (CA5 1990) (same).
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