The degradation behaviour of an Mg-1Ca alloy is investigated in vitro to figure out the possibilities of influencing the degradation behaviour of such an alloy by applying heat treatment as well as the use of a coating system based on plasma-chemical oxidation. It is shown that an optimised solution annealing (T4-heat treatment) can reduce the degradation rate while an additional ageing between 240 and 300 °C (T6-heat treatment) increases it. A coating generated by plasma-chemical oxidation reduces the degradation rate in the immersion test. Its effect is depending on the former heat treatment of the Mg-1Ca alloy as well as on the parameter during plasma-chemical oxidation.