Because college-age people are young and most often healthy, they’re likely to be tempted to fly without a medical safety net. That may be why 20 percent of traditional-age college students don’t have health insurance, according to the Government Accountability Office. “The reality is, accidents and illnesses do happen, even to young people,” said Denny Ebersole, an insurance broker in New Orleans and board member of the National Association of Health Underwriters.

So make sure your college student is protected from that youthful sense of immortality.

RECHECK BENEFITS “Employers have been steadily scaling back dependent benefits to cut health care costs,” said Steven DeRaleau, chief operating officer of HumanaOne, the division of Humana offering coverage for students and recent college graduates.

If you’re lucky enough to have employer-sponsored insurance, your first step is to make sure you can keep a full-time student on your policy. Even some people who could last year might not be able to this year.

VERIFY COVERAGE If you are covered under a network-style plan like a health maintenance organization or preferred provider organization, and if your child is attending school away from home, you’ll need to ask some questions. This applies whether you have employer insurance or an individual policy.

Call the insurer to learn whether there are network-affiliated doctors and other health care providers close to your child’s school. If not, ask whether out-of-network providers are at least partly covered by your plan and what percentage of their fees you’ll be expected to pay. Finally, if your child needs specialized care while away, will he or she need to get a referral from a hometown physician, or can the student receive a referral from a physician near campus?

Because most plans cover out-of-network care in full in emergencies, parents can usually work out these details, especially because most colleges offer student health services that can help take care of routine medical needs. For students with a chronic illness, though, attending a college beyond the network coverage area may pose challenges.

THE BIG LOOPHOLE Group health care policies that cover full-time students often come with a huge loophole, warns Sandy Praeger, the insurance commissioner of Kansas and chairwoman of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ health insurance committee. If an injury or illness forces the student to take a leave from school or cut back on classes, some policies consider that student no longer full time and thus no longer eligible for coverage.