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A group of Canadians charged with examining access to prescription drugs across the country is recommending that the federal government adopt a national, publicly funded pharmacare plan in concert with the country's universal health-care system.

Representatives of the Citizens' Reference Panel on Pharmacare in Canada will deliver their recommendations Tuesday to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health.

The panel, comprised of 35 people from every province and territory chosen in a randomized "civic lottery," recommends immediate action to address the current patchwork of public and private drug plans that leaves about 20 per cent of Canadians with little or no coverage for prescription medications.

"The panellists were surprised to learn that many Canadians do not have adequate drug coverage and that Canadians on average spend considerably more for medically necessary drugs than most other countries with comparable health-care systems," panel chairman Peter MacLeod said in a statement.

"They believe the government should act and create a national pharmacare system that is equitable and cost-effective."

In its report, the panel says there should be a new national formulary of medicines which would cover the full range of individual patient treatment needs, including those for rare diseases.

As a first step, members are calling on Ottawa to immediately implement public coverage for a short list of frequently prescribed drugs — such as those for treating high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and asthma — before moving to a more comprehensive formulary.

"They've recommended that a long-term vision be that Canada have a medicare-like version of pharmacare, but in the short term that Canada move quickly on a few things, one of which (is) access to essential medicines commonly used to maintain health and keep people out of hospital," said Steve Morgan, a professor at UBC's School of Population and Public Health and the panel's lead researcher.

Canada stands alone as the only developed nation in the world with a universal health-care system that does not also provide nationally funded coverage of prescription drugs, said Morgan, pointing to Australia, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and the western European countries for comparison.