With an aging population and a projected increase in health costs, prominent health experts are pondering a legislative tweak that would allow for more private healthcare in Canada.

Though talk of amending the Canada Health Act is often met with a stern rebuke from many, experts suggest that a private-sector injection might be a forgone conclusion for the country's beloved universal system.

"It's a wonderful thing in Canada, but I do think some private care can be superimposed without losing that tremendous (system)," said University of Ottawa Heart Institute president and CEO Dr. Robert Roberts.

While Roberts said that his three-decades of work in the United States provided plenty of exposure to a system that can preclude patients from the best care simply because of finances, he noted that Canada will be forced to confront its own problems.

Though Roberts said that some procedures, such as inserting a heart valve, have become cheaper and less invasive over the past decade, such cost-cutting measures won't be enough to make up for the coming shortfall.

Roberts said that estimates put life-expectancy at 160 years in the next century, meaning big health spending in the coming decades.

"I do feel that somewhere along the way you will have to superimpose some private-care system," he told CTV's Power Play on Monday.

Meanwhile, Canadian Medical Association chief Dr. Jeff Turnbull said that it's time for Canadians themselves to set priorities for the country.

"What we really need to hear now is from Canadians; what they would like to see in their healthcare system."

In December, the CMA announced that it would undertake public consultations in advance of the expiration date of the Canada Health Transfer Program in 2014.

"We have to look at a new way of delivering health services and we have to have Canadians actively involved in that discussion."

Turnbull stressed that the current principles of the Canada Health Act -- including universality and accessibility -- are sound, but he suggested that adding new principles might be necessary to preserve the system.

"I think we have to bring in and consider new principles such as sustainability, quality focus or a patient-centredness," Turnbull said.

"It may cost more and we may have to look for new ways to fund it, but at the moment, Canadians have to have a say in the future of their system."