The permanence of cardiovascular stents and orthopedic fixation devices often cause problems; thus, it would be advantageous to make them biodegradable to prevent or minimize the issues caused by their long-term use. Magnesium is a biodegradable and biocompatible metal that is an excellent candidate for these implants, but it’s rapid degradation in vivo poses issues about its use. In order to slow down the rate at which magnesium corrodes, polymer coatings are being investigated however understanding of polymer attributes and capabilities and its subsequent impact on materials design in controlling the degradation of magnesium is lacking. In this manuscript we report the effect of polymer coating characteristics (polymer structure, molecular weight and thickness) on the biodegradation and biocompatibility behavior of magnesium alloy. Polyester based coating with varying thickness and molecular weights were dip coated on magnesium alloy. The samples were characterized and evaluated using thickness gauge, microscopic techniques, electrochemical corrosion analysis and biocompatibility studies respectively. Within the parameters chosen (molecular weight, thickness and polymer structure) results indicated coating thickness and polymer structure to have the greatest impact on controlling biodegradation of magnesium.