I'll be listing important pieces for parents to know as  I have the time. 

The first thing parents need to know is if their child is on the parents' insurance, when does that coverage stop.  I'll defer to the NCSL here and let you check, state-by-state, when your insurance legally covers your unmarried, no-dependent-of-his/her-own child. 

The second thing parents need to know is the risks of uninsured children in college (forthcoming). Until then, you can keep up with the issue here: Risks of Being Uninsured/Underinsured category in the 4CollegeHealth blog.

With the rising price of higher education, parents may want to look into protecting their investment with tuition insurance. 

Finding valuable and creditable information is often half the battle for parents trying to protect their children.  CPA offers parents access to the only national membership association dedicated to advocating and to serving on behalf of current and future college parents.