To be fair, the OP with that high cost was using a 'Platinum' PPO plan as the comparison, i.e. zero out-of-pocket (besides modest copays). Almost nobody offers these plans anymore, because they're ludicrously overpriced. Most plans are premium PPOs with a deductible of $500-1000 or HDHPs.
Besides bragging rights, I can't see why anyone would want the Platinum PPO. My 'HDHP' PPO costs me ~$200/month for a family and has a family OOP max of $6K. Even not including the HSA tax breaks and the $2K contribution to that HSA from the employer, that extra $1800/month for the 'no cost' PPO would easily be hit by the OOP max in only a few months. That's assuming you actually hit the OOP every year.
Besides bragging rights, I can't see why anyone would want the Platinum PPO. My 'HDHP' PPO costs me ~$200/month for a family and has a family OOP max of $6K. Even not including the HSA tax breaks and the $2K contribution to that HSA from the employer, that extra $1800/month for the 'no cost' PPO would easily be hit by the OOP max in only a few months. That's assuming you actually hit the OOP every year.