HEARTBREAKING: Sources report UHG CEO Andrew Witty was found alive in his home this morning…see more

UnitedHealth Group’s CEO slammed health insurance industry critics on social media as “vitriolic” and “not in tune with reality” as it is battered by anger in the wake of insurance CEO Brian Thompson’s murder.

Andrew Witty, Thompson’s boss, did not make the comments to the public but in a private video to company staff. He has not spoken publicly since the assassination-style murder outside a Manhattan hotel early Wednesday morning.

Witty, clearly reading from a script and dressed casually, defended his industry against accusations it refuses people vital coverage saying “we guard against the pressures that exist for unsafe care or unnecessary care.”

His extended complaint started by claiming the company puts “patients, consumers and members first, as we always have done,” claiming its mission was to improve their experience–and that Thompson left a legacy of doing that.