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The government has launched a nationwide debate over the long-term funding of social care services as a prequel to what it sees as long overdue reform of the sector.

Health secretary Alan Johnson described the social care services system, which is under enormous strain from an ageing population, as unsustainable and called for radical reform.

The six-month long debate, which is part of a concerted effort to find a viable solution to Britain's rising longevity and soaring cost of care, forecast to reach £24 billion in the next 20 years.

Meanwhile, the prime minister has proposed an insurance-based system to fund the elderly and said equity release schemes, which allow people to use the value of their home to pay for care without selling, would also be explored.

Furthermore, the government proposed expanding on the deferred payments scheme, under which care home bills are settled out of estate after death, but said that the poorest with no savings or assets would continue to have their needs met.

In 1999 the government came in for flak for rejecting a recommendation of free care for all, despite the proposal being adopted in Scotland and coming from the Royal Commission which then Prime Minister Tony Blair had set up.

The housing boom seen over the last 15 years has also had a detrimental effect on people's ability to qualify for care support. An estimated 70,000 people are forced to sell their home each year to pay for elderly care, which costs on average £1800 a month.

Meanwhile, Mr Johnson this week announced the launch of a £31m hi-tech healthcare pilot programme aimed at testing how electronic information may be used to improve the health system.

The pilot programme, which will be rolled out over three years, aims to test the potential of technologies such as telecare. It is being rolled out across Kent, Cornwall and Newham, where people with complex health and social care needs will use the technology.

Benefits of the scheme are expected to reduced emergency admissions, reduced use of the acute hospital sector and reduced dependence on home care settings. If successful, then savings generated by reduced admissions could potentially more than offset the cost of initial investment technology.

Phil Taylor, associate member of the Association of Medical Insurance Intermediaries, said technology was a fundamental part of the future.

He said: "The future of telecare could mean GPs could see patients virtually, without needing to physically go to his building. Technology has so much to offer in this world, but we are only scratching the surface at the moment."