Insurancedo

I don't know why this is, but every nursing program I've ever been familiar with has required all nursing students to have health insurance.

yes, programs will require proof of health insurance (as well as current immunizations)

My program required it, as well ....but we were able to buy "crappy" insurance through some "crappy" company. It didn't cover hardly anything and had an outrageous deductible, but it was low cost and met the school's requirement. Ask a representative of the program for something like that to get you through.

Side note: I have no idea what a "gold card" is in relation to healthcare and I'm probably not the only one.

^ yup. Our school had the same for students who weren't insured. Here's a confession: when I went to nursing school, I quit my regular job. But I used my insurance card anyway and never ran into any problems, as they obviously didn't verify if the coverage was still good. So if you have an insurance ID without any expiration date on it, give it a try and save yourself some money. And also try not to get sick or injured during your time in the program.