He said a bit more than that:

"We guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or for unnecessary care to be delivered in a way which makes the whole system too complex and ultimately unsustainable," Witty said.

He added that employees should "tune out" criticism of the insurance company, saying that it "does not reflect reality."

Witty said the company is going to "continue to make sure that we put patients, consumers, and members first, as we always have done. The mission of this company is truly to make sure that we help the system improve by helping the experience for individuals get better and better."

"There is nobody who did more to try and advance that mission than Brian Thompson. And there are very few people in the history of the U.S. health care industry who had a bigger positive effect on American health care than Brian," Witty said. "We are going to make sure that we not only acknowledge and honor that legacy of Brian, but we'll continue it."